How Governor AbdulRazaq is Giving Youths A Lifeline in Kwara

One thing about vision is its power to spark change. It doesn’t matter whether it’s positive or negative. The impacts materialise immediately and strongly. It is the same with lacking a vision. You begin to see the consequences.

Swiftly. Fatal. And there is no need for a lecture, I could have given you the Seth Berkeley, Alan Mulally, John Maxwell of the world to buttress my point, instead, we will be speaking to reality.

There is no greater definition of vision than what is unfolding right now in Kwara State. Kwarapreneurs– a non-interest loan scheme for young entrepreneurs in the state represents an ambitious vision of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to raise a new generation of successful young men and women.

Anchored by the Kwara State Social Investment Programmes (KWASSIP) office, 170 successful applicants were awarded loans ranging from N350, 000 to N3,000,000 having being trained for three weeks on courses bordering on business growth and management to become sustainably empowered.

Arguably the best ever seen in the state, many patriots have since lauded the initiative critically on the strength of reducing unemployment and fostering economic development. Some have further venerated the repayment scope which includes three-month moratorium and a long twelve-month loan completion plan.

The amount of money to be given out to individuals is also singled out. Whereas many could have been covered under the scheme, analysts and development experts agree that having fewer beneficiaries who can be hugely supported and become ultimate employers of labour is better. However, that is not all there is to the scheme and could not have been.

On the deeper study of the programme, there is an inherent ideology to engineer a social change to youths engagement and empowerment in the country. In the selection process, 26% of the participants were female.

While there is room for improvement, this is clearly an update on what was obtainable. 2 out of the top 5 applicants who won N3m were females.

Not only in leadership, but young women also have never been this encouraged as beneficiaries of government programmes on business like this in the North Central. It all boils down to the enabling environment. It continues Kwara’s resurgence as the home of opportunities for girlchild in Africa.

The other point in the process is transparency. The prevailing atmosphere of hope and optimism among youths across the state is not trivial. It is the realisation of possibilities in growth and development threnterpriseprise.

Never have Kwara youths been lazy or useless, many years of neglect and lack of vision of those at the top accounts for the little progress and seeming pessimism. No one would not doubt himself if he had to constantly fail to survive due to cronyism and subversion of justhe tice in allocation of public resources.

On more than three occasions now, the EndSARS crisis; teachers’ recruitment; and bursary disbursement; the AbdulRazaq administration bears the same pattern of fairness.

Among other things, Kwapreneur has come to engender public trust in government with its mode of operation. It is one thing that must endure to curb social apathy.

Through Kwapreneurs, Kwara is also leading advocacy for peacebuilding and healing of the nation after the EndSARS protests and all the accompanying social disorder. Identifying the implications of youth restiveness, policy experts have intensified campaigns on the need for equitable distribution of resources as it is vital to harmony.

Aside from being the biggest investment in young people’s business since the historic moment, it sits clearly as a scheme genuinely thought out to give everyone a fair platform to show their skills and talent within the available funds so far they are capable.

No one could be said to be denied access based on who they are or where they come from. It is particularly inspiring that Agriculture polled the highest in the top five sector distribution with 33. 4% alongside Fashion 10.1%; ICT 6.7%; Commercial/Retail 6.6%; Business Management 4.9%; and others 23.6% of the 7, 203 applicants.