By Ibrahim Sheriff (Gold)
Over ninety (90) days after the creation of four (4) new ministries, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has refused to make appointment of commissioners into the newly created ministries.
Recall that the Gov. AbdulRazaq led Kwara State government, via a memorandum presented by the Head of Service, Mrs Modupe Oluwole, at a virtual cabinet meeting on Friday 20th August, 2021 chaired by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, split some government ministries from sixteen (16) to twenty (20).
The development came twenty (20) months after the government pruned the ministries in the state civil service from 19 inherited from the past administration to 16 ministries, citing cost cutting as excuse.
On December 2019, the State government said it merged the Ministries and created another one to ensure efficient service delivery and judicious allocation of resources, to ensure that at the end of the day, the government is able to improve the welfare of Kwarans by cutting cost, realizing the need to do a lot with limited resources.
However, the state government backtracked in some of the ministries hitherto merged in December 2019, in August 2021.
In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Communication, Mrs. Abosede Olaitan Buraimoh, the government said the splitting of the ministries is to achieve greater efficiency, ensure effective coordination of mandates, and accommodate developmental needs of the 21st century.
The cabinet also approved that Ministry of Solid Minerals Development be excised from the current Ministry of Enterprise while the latter is renamed Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology to drive the state’s huge investments in innovation and technology.
In the same vein, it also approved the partitioning of the Ministry of Works hitherto merged by Gov. AbdulRazaq to rebirth Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development was splitted to birth Ministry of Women Affairs and Ministry of Social Affairs for efficiency in their core responsibilities, particularly because of the increasing scope of issues relating to women globally.
Ministry of Sports and Youth Development was named Ministry of Youths Development following the recent creation of the Kwara State Sports Commission which now has the obligations to streamline and coordinate sporting activities and promotion in the state.
The cabinet also carved out Ministry of Planning and Economic Development from the current Ministry of Finance and Planning.
leaving the finance segment of the old ministry to again, stand on its own.
The council also approved that each of these Ministries would be manned by separate Permanent Secretaries, while the existing directorates in each of them would subsist.
However, three months after, Gov. AbdulRazaq is yet to make appointment into the ministries of Planning and Economic Development, Social Affairs, Solid Mineral Development and Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the 4 which were newly created, despite the conviction of the State cabinet that splitting of the Ministries would help the government achieve greater efficiency, effective coordination of mandates, and enhance development drive.
