Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the weekend commended various community efforts to develop the state, saying such initiatives complement his administration’s efforts to build a viable state.

“We will not leave Kwara the way we met it as efforts are ongoing to not only build good infrastructure to support an agrarian economy but to also provide the right environment for our young people to grow,” AbdulRazaq said at the opening ceremony of Newly Built Basketball Court at St. Anthony Secondary School Ilorin on Saturday.

Represented by Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi and other government officials, AbdulRazaq commended Engineer Opeyemi Babalola, an alumnus of the school who donated the facility to the school.

“If we all give back to the society in our own little way, our society will not be stagnant and together we will build a community of people who constantly think of a greater future. The beauty of what we are doing here today is that dozens of our students here will have the opportunities to not only dream about becoming basketball stars but also have the facility to prepare themselves for that future,” AbdulRazaq added.

Babalola, for his part, said he built the facility to rewrite the history of the school in encouraging and providing the students and sports enthusiasts access to adequate sporting facilities.

He said he had benefitted immensely from the school in building his career, saying no amount of money was too much to give back to the society. Babalola called on wealthy individuals to support the government in all areas.

AbdulRazaq, in another development, echoed similar message of community service at the Gani festivals held in Okuta and Ilesha-Baruba, where he restated his plans to open up the state with roads and other basic facilities that would attract investments into small and medium scale business which would in turn create wealth for the people.

“We are working with the Federal Government to see what can be done to turn our rich arable land to wealth and make our state a beehive of socioeconomic activities — particularly serving as a hub for agroprocessing industry and international trading centre,” he said on Saturday.

“But that can only happen if our roads are passable and travel time is reduced. So far, our administration has prevailed on a number of contractors working in this axis of the state or elsewhere to return to site or face the law. We are gradually getting result. For instance, contractors are now back to the Gwanara Road.”

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