Today, Kwara State is the subject of review as our Make Nigeria Better bandwagon continues to roll out across the nation

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Known as the state of harmony because it is made up of numerous ethnic groups, Kwara State is a very important Nigerian melting pot. Since 1996, however, when the old Borgu Province was handed to Niger State, Kwara has become overwhelmingly Yoruba. I for one have argued that its name should be changed to Oya State (The Yoruba’s call River Niger Odo Oya) and it should be part of the southwest geo-political zone.

[2] Historically, Kwara State has always been home to major national agro-processing facilities like the Jebba paper mill, the sugar plant, the tobacco company, etc. We need to see this expanded upon with factories opened in every one of its 16 local government areas

[3] Economically, Kwara State is largely based around agriculture, mainly coffee, cotton, groundnuts, cocoa, palm oil, sugarcane and kolanuts. Back in the 2000s, Kwara State successfully wooed several of the white farmers from Zimbabwe who President Robert Mugabe expelled. What the Kwara State government needs to do now is expand on such commercial agriculture plans. They have the land in abundance unlike in southern Africa where arable land is at a premium

[4] We then need to see all of Kwara State’s cities like Ilorin, Offa, Jebba, Omu-Aran, Oro, etc, converted into huge industrial estates that convert primary agricultural commodities into finished goods

[5] Kwara State is also renown for livestock herding and the ranching of cattle, goats, and sheep. It is time for the state to step into the ongoing herdsman debate by showing the rest of the country how cattle ranches work

[6] Kwara State also has a few tourist attractions like the Esie Museum, Owu Waterfalls, Imoleboja Rock Shelter, Sobi Holks, and Agbonna Hills. Clearly, all these need to be expanded upon with restaurants, hotels, theme parks, casinos, bars, etc

[7] Kwara State is also a huge transit point, especially between northern and southern Nigeria. That Jebba River crossing for instance should be Nigeria’s biggest tourist attraction, kind of similar to the Niagara Falls. Also, a huge natural reserve divides the state into east and west. This needs to be tapped into as well

[8] What I find inexplicable is how the River Niger runs the length of Kwara State and it does not have its own power plant generating say 5,000MW of electricity. Kwara State does not need any national grid as it can easily build its own hydroelectric power plant at say Jebba to meet all its power needs

[9] In addition, mineral resources available in Kwara State include gokd, limestone, marble, feldspar, clay, kaolin, quartz, granite rocks, and laterite. Processing plants need to be opened to turn all these into finished goods and exported

[10] I would like to see Kwara State take the initiative with a National Chocolate Plan. To produce chocolate, you need several ingredients like cocoa, milk, sugar, coconuts, groundnuts, cashews, etc. As the leading supplier of milk and sugar, Kwara State should rope other states into the plan by linking them with a national chocolate railway network. Ondo (Cocoa), Zamfara (Groundnuts), Oyo (Cashews) and Lagos (Coconuts), should all be linked by this railway network which should terminal at a costal port to facilitate easy exports