The governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, said over the weekend that the state's garment factory will open this year with a start-up capacity of 2,000 direct workers.
On Saturday night, the Governor spoke with a large group of APC youths, progressive social media influencers, and some online news publishers. He explained that the goal is to turn Kwara into a centre for clothing manufacturing so that it can take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) of the United States and other economic advantages.
The Governor noted that more government initiatives, including the visual arts centre, Adeta Yebumot Road, Ilesha Gwanara, and Osi-Obbo-Aiyegunle Road, among others, will also be officially opened in the final three months of the year.
He clarified that the N27.2 billion bond the administration obtained is being used for its intended purpose and added that the private bond is subject to very rigorous regulations that safeguard the public interest and forbid any form of mismanagement.
The Governor claimed that, notwithstanding the difficulties, the speed of the projects has been slowed down by both the inflation trends and the delay in the bond issuing last year.
However, AbdulRazaq noted that the administration had successfully completed numerous projects and implemented numerous programmes that had significant effects throughout the state, and he added that he hardly thought that project commissioning or flag-off was equivalent to good governance, as some Nigerians might appear to think.
The administration has made huge impacts in the lives of the people in various sectors like health, water, social safety nets, support for businesses, education, gender inclusion and youth empowerment, and rural-urban development, AbdulRazaq said.
The Governor said the administration is constructing 39 digital literacy centres across Kwara State in partnership with UBEC apart from the innovation hub which he said would also be inaugurated later this year.
AbdulRazaq also said the current public officers are making huge sacrifices in the service of the state, as the era of flamboyance is gone because of the need to rebuild the state and channel resources for the greater good.