Kwara Gov receives award for inclusive governance, integrity
▪︎ Gov dedicates award to Kwarans, thanks President Tinubu
Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has won the Integrity Governor of the Year Award of the Nigerian Association of Christian Journalists (NACJ).
Presenting the Awara in Ilorin, the state capital, the President of the Association, Dr Charles Okhai, said AbdulRazaq merited the recognition on account of his impressive achievements across many sectors, adding that the Governor emerged top in the ranking process involving four other states.
Dr Okhai said the Governor scored higher in sectors like education, road infrastructure, healthcare, youth empowerment, and transparency.
He said the Association was thrilled by AbdulRazaq’s commitment to the welfare of the civil servants and teachers, as seen in regular promotion and prompt payment of salary, and how his government transparently recruited at least 8,601 qualified teachers to fill manpower gaps across public schools.
He said NACJ is a body of Christian media personnel, which pursues strictly national development.
“When we nominated you, we didn’t look at you from a religious perspective but on account of your sterling performance,” he said.
He was accompanied on the visit by Mr Nasir Lawal.
AbdulRazaq thanked the Association for the honour, which he dedicated to the people of the state for their support and trust in his administration.
“We take this award as an acknowledgement of our modest efforts to improve the conditions of our people and deliver political goods to the largest majority,” the Governor said.
“Beyond the routine adherence to the bureaucratic due processes and transparency, our state has often come out in good standing in peer-review indices for transparency and good governance, including at the level of programmes conducted by the World Bank and other global bodies.
“We have made significant progress in every sector. We are clearly leaving the state better networked in road and other socioeconomic indices. And we are not resting.
“No government since 1999 has delivered as many projects in road connectivity, education, health, sports or tech infrastructure as we have done in the last six years.”
AbdulRazaq commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support to the state over the years.