₦airaland Forum

*Nobody was attacked at Ile Arugbo, Kwara Must Change investigation confirms*

A leading pro democracy group in Kwara State, Kwara Must Change has called on the public to disregard claims being made in some quarters that some women were attacked in the process of reclaiming Ile Arugbo piece of land, saying that the claim is spurious, strange, unfounded and outrightly none existent as investigation has shown.

It urges people making the claim to provide evidence.

In a statement by Kwara Must Change State coordinator, Comrade Yusuf Olatunji, the group said that after the alarm was raised by Senator Gbemisola Saraki last week, it carefully carried out an investigation to ascertain the veracity of the claims, but couldn't find any evidence to it.

Kwara Must Change explained that, "in our investigations, we visited site of the incident, interacted with eye witnesses and requested for names of victims if any, but none was provided.

Yusuf maintained that, "It appeared to us that Senator Gbemi Saraki was misled into raising false alarm by the opposition".

According to him, if indeed people were attacked as claimed, at least, there should be some evidences and we should be able to see the affected victims. But all through our 3 days investigations, we have found no evidence whatsoever, other than the media claims.

"Further investigations also showed that, contrary to claims in the media, nobody lives in the premises, neither were people there when the demolition took place over night. People only go to the place when they are invited to receive gifts".

Yusuf therefore maintained that, it is wrong to continue to perpetrate falsehood in the media under the guise of opposition, when such claims cannot be verified. It is even worse, if such falsehood is being perpetrated, using aged women as tools for political blackmail.

Recall that the Kwara State government reclaimed a piece of land, alleged to be illegally acquired without any documentation.

Government action, followed a resolution by the Kwara State House of Assembly, after the assembly investigated ownership of the land and discovered that the land belongs to the Kwara State government, but was illegally acquired by those occupying the land.

Recall also that the Nigeria Police Force had denied the claims.

End

*Ile Arugbo : Seperating Facts from Fiction*

On September 2nd, 2019, the Kwara State House of Assembly passed a resolution for the Kwara State government to revoke the Ile Arugbo land.

This resolution was made, after proper investigation by the assembly shows that the Ile Arugbo land belongs to the Kwara State government and had been planned to be used for secretariat project.

After the house resolution was made public, it was expected that, if the Saraki's had any contrary facts about the land, particularly as it relates to the ownership, they would have made it public or even approach the Kwara State government for alternative resolution.

However, between September to December, a whole 3 months passed without the Saraki's bringing forth any contrary facts or evidence, neither did they approach the Kwara State government for alternative resolution, meaning that they had agreed with the resolution of the Kwara State House of Assembly resolution and have given up on the land, since they have no document to prove their ownership.

Surprisingly, after the Kwara State government announced the formal revocation of the land, 3 months after the resolution to do so was passed, former Kwara State Governor, Dr Bukola Saraki issued an instigating press statement, where he declared that the battle line was drawn.

Many were expecting the former senate president to provide evidences of their ownership of the land in dispute, but what we saw is the mobilization of helpless old women to protest against the revocation of the land, as already declared by the Kwara State government.

What many are still yet to understand is that, how can you be protesting against an illegally acquired government land, when you cannot provide your evidence of ownership?

As if that was not enough, we also saw Senator Gbemisola Saraki claiming that the governor didn't consult her before the revocation of her fathers property.

Firstly, the Kwara State House of Assembly had established that the land doesn't belong to late Dr Olusola Saraki. It belongs to the Kwara State government. This fact is yet to be disproved.

Secondly, it is wrong for Senator Gbemi to be expecting the Kwara State government to reach out to her on the land matter, after the assembly had already made its resolution public.

It was expected that, if she was truly interested in some kind of resolution on the matter, she should have reached out to the Kwara State government to seek some kind of alternative resolution.

However, she didn't do that, neither did her brother. Both of them waited for 3 months to passby and only speaking up after the Kwara State government had already assumed that they had agreed with the resolution of the Kwara State House of Assembly on the revocation of the premises.

It is important that these points are made to properly contextualize the issue.

Thanks

Understanding Kwara’s New Governance Style
By Abdulrazaq Hamzat

Kwarans are used to a government of propaganda. We are used to a government, in which praise singing is more like a state religion.

However, since the emergence of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the otoge
inspired governor, meaningless news has stopped making headlines, baseless stories no longer hit the front page, praise singing is given less attention and paid propaganda has taken the back seat.

Governance is now seen as a serious business, in which the Chief
Executive Officer is not just sitting in the comfort of his office, dishing out orders and making decisions blindly, but actually leading
the charge from the field.

The Kwara State Governor is not asking his officers to get things done, he is doing it himself and all they have
to do is follow his footsteps.

The trending slogan in Kwara State today is Iseya (it’s time to work)
and true to the slogan, work has begun in earnest without the usual, but undue noise making.

Kwara State now have a governor, who doesn’t want to look good before
the people, but just wants to do good. He is working tirelessly, but
doesn’t want to be seen doing so. In the governor’s psychology, good governance is like garri, it would sell, even if nobody advertised it.

This explains why Kwara State is arguably the only states in Nigeria
without a special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, after more than 6 months in charge, yet any list of performing governors in the country would be deemed incomplete without a mention of the Kwara State governor.

Keen observers of development in Kwara State can see that alot is
happening in the state of harmony, but less is being said by the government. From what we have seen so far, it appeared this government is not going to be playing politics during the time of governance because it knows that governance is not about noise making.

In those period of propaganda government, the mission of those in
government was not to do good. They just want to be seen working,
without really doing the work and media propaganda became their favorite project since it would help them project their false narrative.

The current government, led by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is not a
government that priotize image making through false narrative or dishing out promotional material just to look good, this is a government that is investing its energy in service delivery to ensure sustainable development.

No paid promotion, no propaganda, no desperation to look good, no false narrative, just service delivery at its core. The government only releases information for public knowledge, hoping that it would
shape public conduct and provide appropriate feedback. If the information released is news worthy, media use it and if they are not news worthy, they are not being pushed as promotional content. The government is not pushing a narrative of performance, it is just doing what it can, as much as it can, despite inheriting huge burden.

Finally, as i ruminate over what is happening in Kwara State, I remember a popular song from Adekunle Gold, titled Ariwo Ko Ni Music and if you ask me, that’s the best description of what is happening in the State
of harmony.

Agba to lo mi ni nu okin pariwo, so the work being done is so silent. But
yet, it is speaking for itself because, Ariwo Ko Ni Governance.

As we prepare for the year 2020, let’s continue to demand for performance and more performance and not succumb to the antics of the noise makers.

Abdulrazaq Hamzat is the Convener of Kwara Must Change

https://sahelstandard.com/2019/12/22/opinion-understanding-kwaras-new-governance-style/

Don't get that

Ariwo Ko Ni Governance

itsme01:
well Ariwo is now Governance in Oyo State.. where state radio and TV station spends hours and hours daily advertising the government and repeating mediocre project like christmas light and car purchase over and over again

When reality finally down, the publicity won't matter again

Check online

Ariwo Ko Ni Governance

*Ariwo Ko ni Governance*
By Abdulrazaq Hamzat

Kwarans are used to a government of propaganda. We are used to a government, in which praise singing is more like a state religion.

However, since the emergence of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the otoge inspired governor, meaningless news has stopped making headlines, baseless stories no longer hit the front page, praise singing is given less attention and paid propaganda has taken the back seat.

Governance is now seen as a serious business, in which the Chief Executive Officer is not just sitting in the comfort of his office, dishing out orders and making decisions blindly, but actually leading the charge from the field.

The Kwara State Governor is not asking his officers to get things done, he is doing it himself and all they have to do is follow his footsteps.

The trending slogan in Kwara State today is Iseya (it’s time to work) and true to the slogan, work has begun in earnest without the usual, but undue noise making.

Kwara State now have a governor, who doesn’t want to look good before the people, but just wants to do good. He is working tirelessly, but
doesn’t want to be seen doing so. In the governor’s psychology, good governance is like garri, it would sell, even if nobody advertised it.

This explains why Kwara State is arguably the only states in Nigeria without a special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, after more than 6 months in charge, yet any list of performing governors in the country would be deemed incomplete without a mention of the Kwara State governor.

Keen observers of development in Kwara State can see that alot is happening in the state of harmony, but less is being said by the
government. From what we have seen so far, it appeared this government is not going to be playing politics during the time of governance because it knows that governance is not about noise making.

In those period of propaganda government, the mission of those in government was not to do good. They just want to be seen working,
without really doing the work and media propaganda became their favorite project since it would help them project their false narrative.

The current government, led by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is not a government that priotize image making through false narrative or
dishing out promotional material just to look good, this is a government that is investing its energy in service delivery to ensure sustainable development.

No paid promotion, no propaganda, no desperation to look good, no false narrative, just service delivery at its core. The government
only releases information for public knowledge, hoping that it would shape public conduct and provide appropriate feedback. If the information released is news worthy, media use it and if they are not news worthy, they are not being pushed as promotional content. The government is not pushing a narrative of performance, it is just doing what it can, as much as it can, despite inheriting huge burden.

Finally, as i ruminate over what is happening in Kwara State, I remember a popular song from Adekunle Gold, titled Ariwo Ko Ni Music and if you ask me, that’s the best description of what is happening in the State of harmony.

Agba to lo mi ni nu okin pariwo, so the work being done is so silent. But yet, it is speaking for itself because, Ariwo Ko Ni Governance.

As we prepare for the year 2020, let's continue to demand for performance and more performance and not succumb to the antics of the noise makers.

*Abdulrazaq Hamzat is the Convener of Kwara Must Change*

Learning

Indeed

I can't believe all songs on @fireboydml new album are topping the chart. I mean all 13 songs on laughter, tears and goosebumps are in top 15 songs in Nigeria.

*10 questions raised by Kwara Must Change for Dr Bukola Saraki on Shonga Farm in its petition to KWHA*

It is no longer news that Kwara Must Change submitted a petition to the Kwara State House of Assembly over the confusion in Shonga Farm project.

In its petition titled investigation into shonga farm conspiracy, forceful acquisitions of community land, wasteful investment of state resources without accountability and disappearance of documents signed by Abdulrazaq Hamzat, the group raised a 10 points demand from the Kwara State House of Assembly, which is as follows:

1. Invitation of a former Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki to explain the business relationship between Kwara State government and the Zimbabwe farmers as well as provide the Memorandum of Understanding entered with them as basis for their relationship.

2. Dr. Bukola Saraki to clarify what necessitated the forceful acquisition of 17000 hectares of community land from Shonga District and handing over such vast land to private foreign individuals with no record of any investment, yet registered the land in their own names as sole owners.

3. Dr. Bukola Saraki to establish the specific amount invested by the Kwara State government into the Shonga Farm business between 2004 till 2011, including the takeoff grant given to the farmers in foreign currency.
4. Dr. Bukola Saraki to establish what necessitated government to guarantee the farmers loan facilities with Nigeria Agricultural Bank (NAB) and Rural Development Bank (RDB) to the tune of N650million.
5. Bukola Saraki to explain why the farmers failed to pay back their loans, which necessitated its deduction from Kwara State government allocation from source as a result of issuing an irrevocable standing payment order to the office of Accountant General of the Federation
6. Dr. Bukola Saraki to establish what necessitated government to guarantee the farmers another loan facilities with 6 other banks, including the Central Bank of Nigeria despite not paying back the earlier loans they took from Nigeria Agricultural Bank (NAB) and Rural Development Bank (RDB)

7. Dr. Bukola Saraki to establish how much loan in specifics was taken from each of the following banks (1) Unity Bank (2) Intercontinental (3) GTB (4) Bank PHB (5) Fin Bank and (6) Central Bank of Nigeria and why the loans were not paid.
8. Dr. Bukola Saraki to explain why 11 out of the 13 farms established in 2004 were sold before 2007 when Shonga Farm Limited was incorporated and to explain if government investment in the already disposed farms were recovered.
9. Dr. Bukola Saraki to explain why 5 banks became shareholders in the 2 farms later incorporated as Shonga Farm Limited with 75% combined shareholding as follows: (1) Unity Bank (15%) (2) Intercontinental (15%) (3) GTB (15%) (4) Bank PHB (15%) (5) Fin Bank (15%)
10. Dr Bukola Saraki to explain why all documents relating to the project were not available in relevant government ministry, agency or department.

In conclusion, Kwara Must Change is of the view that, only the invitation of Dr Bukola Saraki can shed some light on the above subject matter and we urge your good office to, in line with your constitutional responsibility carry out this investigation in the general interest of the state.

End

*Kwara Must Change petitioned KWHA over Shonga Farm, says Bukola Saraki has questions to answer*

A leading pro democracy group, Kwara Must Change has petitioned the Kwara State House of Assembly to invite former Governor of Kwara State, Dr Bukola Saraki to respond to questions over the illegal acquisitions of 17000 hectares of land from over 33 Shonga Communities and handing the land over to private entities without any record of investment in the state.

The group also said that the former senate president should be made to explain why government funded the shonga farm project and also used state allocations to pay back loans taken by private organizations without any corresponding returns to the state.

In a petition titled "request for investigation into shonga farm conspiracy,forceful acquisitions of community land, wasteful investment of state resources without accountability and disappearance of documents" signed by Abdulrazaq Hamzat, the group said that the ownership of shonga farm project, which started in 2004 through massive investment by Kwara State government has been a subject of controversy and there is a need to resolve the controversy as soon as possible.

"To unearth truth behind the project, newly elected Governor of Kwara, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in June 2019 setup a committee to look into the project and many others." It said.

Quoting the report submitted to Kwara State government by Senator Ajadi led committee, the group said it was established that at the inception of the project in 2004, 17000 hectares of land were forcefully taken over by Dr. Bukola Saraki led government from about 33 villages of Shonga District in Edu Local Government area of Kwara State, and were handed over to 13 Zimbabwe Farmers, adding that when the land was taken, owners and people of Shonga protested and resisted, but they were suppressed, brutally attacked and unlawfully arrested and prosecuted"

Kwara Must Change also stated that, apart from the forceful takeover of Shonga land, it was also discovered that a lot of funds were invested by Kwara State government into the project running into billions of naira and till date, the exact amount cannot be ascertained because all files relating to the project have been carted away by officials of the past administration in the state.

Speaking further on the conspiracy, the group stated that, Zimbabwe farmers project metamorphosed into what is now known as Shonga Farm in 2007 with questionable shareholding structures.

"Instead of Kwara State government, which has been the sole financier of the project from inception and the only entity responsible for the repayment of its loans to be the owner or the largest shareholder of the company, several banks were listed as shareholders with 75%, while Kwara State is said to have only 25%"

According to Hamzat, "Another major observation by Kwara Must Change was that, out of the 13 farms earlier established in 2004 by the 13 Zimbabwe Farmers, 11 have been sold to other strangers not captured in the shareholding arrangements as at 2007 and those 11 farms were not part of those incorporated into Shonga Farm in 2007"

This means that, what we have as Shonga Farm today is just 2 out of 13 farms established with Kwara State resources by the Zimbabwe farmers in 2004. The remaining 11 have been sold to others before Shonga Farm was incorporated, he said.

As a result of the numerous contradictions surrounding the project, particularly as it relates to the ownership, Kwara Must Change call for invitation of Dr Bukola Saraki to explain the business relationships between Kwara State government and the Zimbabwe farmers, and the circumstances that led to sales of 11 out of 13 farms established in 2004 before the incorporation of Shonga Farm.

Kwara Must Change also said that Dr. Saraki needs to clarify what necessitated the forceful acquisition of community land from 33 Shonga communities and handing over such to private foreign individuals with no record of any investment, yet registered the land in their own names as sole owners.

The group also said, only Dr Saraki can explain what necessitated government to guarantee the farmers loan facilities with Nigeria Agricultural Bank (NAB), Rural Development Bank (RDB) and 6 other banks and why the loans were paid back through Kwara State allocations.

End

Fireboy uploaded his album on audio Mack not less than 30 mins ago and it already has 7.10 M airplays.

That’s madd ������

That's surprising for a new artist

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REDEEM YOUR TIME

I listened to a speech that inspired me, the transcript and edited version of which I am going to share with you today. It's called, redeem your time. I want to talk to you today about redeeming the time. Time is one of the most valuable commodities that we have. Time is more valuable than anything, valuable than everything, even more valuable than money. We can have more money, but we can’t have more time.
Queen Elizabeth I, said on her death bed, I would give up my entire kingdom for just one more day. When you woke up this morning, God gave you a present, it’s called today. With that gift of life, comes a responsibility. You have to redeem the time. This simply means that; you don’t let your time go to waste. You don’t live this day unfocused, unhappy, negative and defeated. Make the most out of each day. Things may not be perfect. You may have some obstacles, everyone actually do, but you can never get this day back if you let it go to waste. If you would learn to see each day as the gift that it is, you would live more intentional. You would realize that, when you are spending your time, you are spending your life. You can either invest it, or you can waste it.
To understand this message better. Just imagine that every morning, a bank deposited 86,400 pounds into your bank account, which in naira is roughly about N34,560,000 (Thirty Four Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Thousands naira). That money was yours to use any however you like. The only but in the money is that, at the end of each day, any amount you didn’t spend, you lose. It would be taken out of your account. I know you wouldn’t want this to happen, so you would be focused on spending all this money, you would take full advantage of it and not let one naira go to waste. That’s the same thing with time.
Every day, God gives us each, 86,400 seconds. You can spend it as you would like. You can invest it by living positive, hopeful; pursuing your God given purpose, being a blessing to others or you can waste it by being disorganized, unhappy, negative, discouraged and worried. The principle is the same, at the end of the 24 hours, your day goes away, we can never get it back.
When we fully understand the value of our time, and we see each day as the gift that it is, it helps us to keep the right perspective about life. We would realize there are some battles that are not worth fighting. You don’t have time to get involved in things that is not between you and your purpose in life. You would also not get involved in battles that didn’t concern you. If somebody is not happy with you, as long as you are doing your best with all due respect, that’s their problem, not yours, some people don’t want to be at peace with you. They are just a distraction. When you realize your time is limited, you don’t respond to every critic, you don’t waste your time trying to convince people to like you, that they are not going to ever like you. You would accept the fact that, not everybody is going to like you, not everybody is going to agree with you, not everyone is going to understand you and not everyone is going to give you their approval, but that’s okay, you just run your race. When you are redeeming your time, you are not trying to keep someone happy, that’s not going to be happy. There are people, that no matter what you do for them, it’s not going to be enough. No matter how many times you rescue them, no matter how many favors you do for them, sooner or later, they are going to find fault with you and end up being unhappy with you.
You must understand that, there happiness has nothing to do with you; it is not your responsibility. You should be kind, you should be respectful, you should be helpful and you should be free to all, but your attitude should be like, if you are not going to be happy, that’s fine, but you are not going to keep me from being happy. Always say to yourself, I know this day is a gift and am not going to waste it, trying to please people, that are never going to be pleased.