It is the end-time for the opposition in Kwara State as the Supreme Court dealta mortal blow on the intransigent Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). By a unanimous decision, the highest court in the land reaffirmed the election of Gov. Abdulfattah Ahmed of the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria (PDP).Since losingthe general election last year, ACN in Kwara State has been on a rampage against the rulingpartyand the state government.The propaganda started actually in the run-up to the 2011 elections as sponsored opinion polls that had no basis in history or reality filled the Media: ACN, the sponsored reports suggested, would win Kwara State as it had done in neighbouring Osun and Ekiti States.The opposition party in Kwara was apparently building its castle in the air because it had no structures or good-will to perform the miracle of defeating the well-entrenched ruling PDP whose government since 2003 was adjudged to be doing very well in the State of Harmony.For the records, ACN, known variously as Alliance for Democracy (AD) and later Action Congress (AC) had never won any election in Kwara since the return to democratic rule in 1999. It performed woefully in 1999, scoring only 21 percent in the governorship election and wining only five miserable seats in the 24-seat state House of Assembly and winning none of the nine seats in the National Assembly.That 1999 record was, in fact, its best performance as the party lost the election, all the way, in 2003 and 2007. So, on the eve of the 2011 election, ACN had control of only Offa Local Government (just one out of the 16 Local Governments Areas in the State).In all reality therefore, ACN knew clearly that it was not a match for PDP in the 2011 elections, yet through its well-oiled propaganda machine, it was raising false hope for its members and Lagos-based sponsors.It was also clear whose gubernatorial candidate Kwarans would go with. The ACN candidate, Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN) they didn't know; he is a Kwaran by birth, but that was all he had, as he was not known for any contribution to the socio-economic development of the state. In contrast, the PDP candidate, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed is a thorough-bred Kwaran, who schooled in Kwara and learned the ropes of governance for eight years as a cabinet member of Dr. Bukola Saraki's Administration (2003-2011). So, without doubt, Ahmed (aka Maigida) was the best man, the best-prepared for the job and Kwarans voted overwhelmingly for their man.After expectedly losing the 2011 election, ACN changed its propaganda tactics, assailing everyone with an expectedvictory in the election petition tribunal.Court verdicts came (from the tribunals to the courts of appeal) and it was losses galore for the opposition party and all its candidates. The death kernel was sounded by its defeat at the supreme court with the mandate of Gov. Ahmed being upheld legally.As the courts were validating the verdict of the good people of Kwara State, CAN was on the loose, churning out one falsehood after another in order to detract the government and satisfy its sponsor that it still existed in Kwara.The tactic is familiar: continue to demonize the government, talk about the mundane things so that easy money will continue to flow from their unwary principal. In one of its recent misadventures,ACN sought to make cheap propaganda out of the government's signing of a N70 billion rice projects with a Spanish conglomerate. The party claimed that the company investing such a huge amount of money in Kwara was not legally registered in Spain. That reckless claim was swiftly countered with documents showing ACN as an unpatriotic alarmist.Anyway, it has become crystal clear that there is nothing more for ACN to do in Kwara. The wind of change in Kwara is blowing away the opposition's opportunism as even the ACN's only-controlled Offa local government is working well with the progressive state government in redressing the socio-economic challenges confronting our people.Given the accelerated socio-economic development since the 2011 election, it is not surprising that the other major opposition parties in the state collapsed their party structures into PDP and have joined hands with the state government to lift up the state.The first to see the light was the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) whose two-time gubernatorial candidate and main promoter in Kwara state, Alh. Khalil Bolaji led the party faithfuls to PDP last September.Two months later, the hitherto implacable Democratic Peoples' Party (DPP), which in fact, came second in the 2007 elections followed suit.The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN)- which also made some showing in the 2011 elections-has since returned fully to its root, the PDP. The reason why the opposition has collapsed and ACN has become a mere irritant is not farfetched: the Ahmed Administration is people-focused, and its policies and programmes are above partisan lines. The 2,000 youth yanked out of unemployment through the Kwara State Youth Empowerment Scheme (KWABES)know that Maigida is working.Governor Ahmed runs an easy- to-understand government; it has an end in mind in term of service delivery. Kwarans know the policy thrust of the administration and its medium term sector strategy (infrastructural development, human capital development, youth empowerment, Health, water, etc.) Kwarans for instance know they won't travel more than 500 meters to get access to portable drinking water and primary health care.This year, activities of the government in budgetary term are specific and timed. In the first and second quarters Kwarans already know what their communities will get.In a remarkable innovative way, Kwara has introduced a new concept in governance: performance contract. Under this policy, government business has been reduced to measurable deliverables. It redefines expectations from public servants (especially civil servants) and connects their elevation into performance.With the good work of the Ahmed administration, the sun is really setting for ACN in Kwara; it may continue to bark, but it cannot bite politically in the State of Harmony.
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