As a result of the dwindling revenue from the federation account, Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, yesterday urged the people of the state to be ready to make sacrifices.
The governor made this declaration shortly after taking oath of office for another term of four years.
The oath of office was administered on the governor by state’s Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Suleiman Durosinlorun Kawu.
Addressing the people of the state shortly after his inauguration, Governor Ahmed lamented that the country’s economy was on its knees, adding that “global oil prices, the mainstay of our economy, are dropping daily, limiting our ability to fulfill our obligations.”
Speaking further, he said that “these challenges are enormous, but we refuse to give in to despair. This administration will upscale development and boost entrepreneurship to get a greater number of our youths working.
“Starting from today, we will begin the work of transforming our state to the North central’s economic hub. We will achieve this admittedly challenging task by significantly improving internally generated revenue. We will also plug leakages and reduce the cost of governance to boost our capacity to achieve these objectives.
“We must all be prepared to tighten our belts, to make sacrifices, and moderate our expectations of government.
“We intend to enhance functional education and expand access to formal education. We will overhaul an initial 120 secondary schools across the state by building 1,274 new classrooms and rehabilitating 2,000 existing classrooms.
“On the power sector, we will complement existing investment strategies with the establishment of a 100-megawatt Independent Power Plant in Kwara North.
“Apart from industrial clusters, the 100 megawatts will also power essential services such as hospitals, government offices, and educational institutions,” the governor promised.
