A former presidential candidate and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has reiterated that the gains that came with the liberation of Kwara State in the 2015 election will never be reversed despite the current schism by some political stakeholders in the State.
Olawepo-Hashim spoke during a courtesy visit to the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Monday.
He maintained that the liberation of Kwara State took several decades and inflicted several battle scars on the participants.
He added that the no matter the level of disagreement among the stakeholders, Kwara State must not be allowed to go back to slavery and socio-political emasculation that had arrested the progress of the state for many years.
Olawepo-Hashim said: “Never again shall Kwarans be allowed to be enslaved or go back to the era that stunted the growth of Kwara and Kwarans.”
He extolled the governor’s policy of giving political space to youths and women, while also commending his efforts to restore the dignity of the state in the areas of education, infrastructures and human capital development.
“In fact, going forward is the only way forward for Kwara,” he said.
On the current crisis in the state chapter of the APC, Olawepo-Hasim expressed confidence that it will be resolved “as a family affair in a family way” and enjoined the feuding parties to sheath their swords in the larger interest of the people of the state.
In his response, the governor recalled that the efforts to reposition the state had been challenging because “we met a state that has literarily collapsed in every sector”.
AbdulRazaq also promised to continue in his resolve to reposition the State to work for the larger interest of the people.