By May 2019, Dr ‘Bukola Saraki would have directly and indirectly maintained a16-year unbroken andasphyxiating grip on the destiny of Kwara State and her wonderful people; out of the state’s 50 years of existence. The heart-wrenching part of the story is that the Bukola Saraki era has been years of unprecedented inflow of federal funds into the state, but most of which ended up in the private bank accounts of a few privileged indigenes.

This is sad, to say the least, in a state that is not in short supply of very intelligent individuals. Since the return to democratic rule, especially, the years between 2003 and now, Kwara State has fallen into the hands of a dubious political class who consider politics as a prominent mainstay and sole source of subsistence. It must have been the state of melancholy which residents were forced into that irked them, when the government rolled out the drums to celebrate 50 years of the state’s creation.

One can hardly controvert one columnist who wondered what happened to the huge federal allocations that Kwara collected in the last 14 years. What Governor Akinwumi Ambode has done with Lagos State’s allocationin two yearshas revealed that a thin line separates competence and incompetence. Little wonder that residents of Ilorin, the state capital, had to resort to pelting and hauling invectives at their elected senator at an E-id praying ground.

With educated, intelligent, god-fearing and incorruptible people out there, the people of Kwara State have no business throwing stones at their oppressors, as a way of venting their anger. If the rain has stopped and people have now begun to see clearly to the extent of realising that they voted for the wrong people all along, the best option available to them is to bear their self-inflicted insults with equanimity and throw out their oppressors in 2019.

And, why not? Truth is, there are several high-achieving and result-oriented individuals who can take the state to the next level. One name that stands out from the crowd is Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, a man of integrity. He is his own man, meaning Lai Mohammed is nobody’s manFriday.Lai Mohammed belongs to the fast-receding list of Nigerians who can be entrusted with state funds and people can go to sleep, assured that their money is secure. It is in the direction of people like Lai Mohammed that voters in Kwara State should look when they vote in 2019.

Honestly, the years of puppetry that turned the people of Kwara into a vulnerable, unquestioning and submissive lot, and which is also responsible for turning the state into the butt of derisive jokes of neighbours must stop. What the state needs at the expiration of the current caretaker administration in the state is a foresighted government, not another surrogate or caretaker regime that holds power in trust for plunderers.

The ‘State of Harmony’ must not be bled to death by a pilfering few. The state should no longer provide sanctuary for discredited leaders who do not see the demarcation between state funds and personal wealth. It will be another mistake if, in 2019, voters in Kwara put their destiny in the hands of another surrogate and his principal, who feed fat at their expense.

For now, how to snatch the State of Harmony from the jaws of death should be paramount. Equally important is for the next government, like the corrective Buhari/Osinbajo administration, to erect formidable structures as a bulwark against a clique - however devious they are and whatever the depth of their pocket - from pocketing the state. A situation where one man determines the fate and destiny of a people, for selfish and parochial purposes, especially in a state overflowing with intelligent, far-sighted and, more importantly, god-fearing people is not healthy.

Honestly, the sad experience in Kwara State, especially over the past decade and half, has shown that nothing good comes from any political arrangement where one man decides who gets what. The people of Kwara have God to thank for the gift of the Buhari/Osinbajo government. Today, those who hitherto held Kwara by the jugular appear to be losing grip, and the people are beginning to breathe freely. At least, more people are beginning to see ass-licking as repulsive and demeaning.

The collective dream of a brave, new Kwara devoid of the manipulative tendencies of a thieving cabal is realistic. But, first, there must be a sustained and deliberate drive to draft the independent-minded and farsighted Alhaji Mohammed into the race for the Government House, Ilorin, in 2019. Nothing should be left to chance in the drive to entrust the future of Kwara State to a politician who will not improve himself at the expense of the people.

Come 2019, voters in Kwara should not make the mistake of electing puppets, either as state governor, State Assembly legislators or representatives in the National Assembly. They have no business in electing representatives whose loyalty is not to the people. To that extent, there is no gainsaying the fact that politicians in the mould of Mohammed have a key role to play in salvaging Kwara State.

Kwara has been held down for too long. Nigerians of goodwill must join the effort to free the state from the vice grip of a few. But, there is need for vigilance, as no one should delude him/her self that it is going to be an easy duel. Reason? Thieving cabals do not give up without a fight.

•Abdulrazaq Magaji is based in Abuja and can be reached via magaji777@yahoo.com