IN 2003, the political terrain in Nigeria marked the end of an era and the beginning of another. I recall the excitement when some “new hands” came on board as helmsmen in various states of the federation, including my dear state.

They were termed the Class of 2003.

This class of governors was indeed an interesting mix: From the five PDP governors of the Southwest to the three PDP governors of Kwara, Kogi and Gombe and the new ANPP governors of Borno and Kano. Most of them got re-elected despite stiff competition. However, the likes of Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun and Olusegun Agagu of Ondo were removed from office by the courts.

The rest of  Ibrahim Idris of Kogi, Danjuma Goje of Gombe, Bukola Saraki of Kwara, Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano, Modu Sherriff of Borno and Gbenga Daniel of Ogun successfully completed their second terms in office and they form the basis of my analysis in this piece.

In my opinion, these governors gave a fair account of themselves in their respective states. But Dr. Bukola Saraki was outstanding because there is a great deal of variation in the Kwara of 2003 and the Kwara of 2011 and not only that, he came with a different concept from the traditional step-by-step logic of governance as is the norm in the country.

As a social critic, I take delight in probing further and not to rely on hear-say or media reports.  But in Kwara State, I dare say what you read in newspapers and other platforms is much below what is on ground in the state.  There are universities in almost all states and there are hospitals and a host of other developmental projects, but it is a different approach in Kwara.

I think Dr. Bukola Saraki is the outstanding student in the class of 2003 governors.In the educational sector, Kwara State boasts of a federal university, two colleges of education, a polytechnic and a private university, all tailored along the same generic process of churning out graduates into the already saturated labor market.

But through the Kwara State University, Saraki introduced a new concept to university education: The “University for Community Development”.

How can one describe a university that opens a channel of communication with students in their last year in secondary school by guiding these young people into making the right choices on what career pattern is suitable for them even before gaining admission?

Can you tell of any university in Nigeria that is implementing the International Bureau of Education-UNESCO template of compulsory modules to engage students in community-oriented projects and voluntary action that is linked with learning and targets problem-solving at the community level?Kwara State University also has a centre for Innovation and International Studies that coordinates a study-abroad programme where students go outside the country to learn and to interact and also to earn course credit from the trip, which is reflected on their transcripts. But what really impressed me about the university is its Centre for Entrepreneurship that works with students to propose projects and implement such projects while still in school and also partners with students upon graduation to start their various projects via a start-up fund.

This, in my opinion, is utterly brilliant and speaks volume of what the university aims to achieve. KWASU as it is also known was established in 2009 and I can’t wait for 2012 when its first set of graduates will hit the ground running.  This is a first in Nigeria. The Saraki administration was very impressive in the agricultural sector. Formerly the pride of Nigeria, the agricultural sector at some point, defined our collective national sense of dignity with blossoming cotton fields, massive cocoa and palm oil plantations to the famous groundnut pyramids. But ironically, this is not the case today.

But Kwara under Bukola Saraki identified agriculture as an essential tool for fighting the problems of poverty and unemployment and ensuring food security.

Dr. Bukola Saraki consequently invited the displaced Zimbabwean farmers to Kwara State to establish Shonga Farms and today Kwara is leading the revolution in the agricultural sector in Nigeria.  Shonga Farms engages in mixed, diary and poultry farming. It produces commercial crops such as maize, rice, cassava, ginger, soya bean, milk and poultry meat.

The farm’s chicken processing plant produces 2,500 processed frozen chickens per day and the diary farm has the capacity to process up to 50,000 litres of milk per day. Shonga Farms sits on 13,000 hectares of land, and when juxtaposed with the fact that Nigeria is blessed with approximately 79 million hectares of arable land, pleasant ecological conditions and adequate rainfall, we can only imagine the outcome if the Shonga Farms template is replicated across the country.

Shonga Farms has not only changed the face of farming in Kwara State, but also the realisation that Nigeria can attain self-sufficiency in food production and also become a net exporter of agricultural produce if its model is adopted as a national policy. And not only has it boosted employment for locals too, it also afforded opportunity for local farmers to learn agricultural best practices.

Another area where Dr. Bukola Saraki stood out is in the establishment of Kwara Football Academy, a tuition free academy that was established for the purpose of youth development through the game of football. The academy is structured along two lines: conventional secondary school and a standard academy. The Kwara Football Academy is open to all irrespective of state of origin or nationality. KFA offers talented youths the opportunity to acquire formal education for free while training as professional footballers.

It offers a full on-campus boarding facility to ensure student concentration and full engagement while in school. The academy also takes care of everything from feeding down to training kits at no cost to the students who are mostly from financially challenged homes. It is equally noteworthy that Kwara enjoys about the most stable electricity supply in the country today since the establishment of the 330KV Ganmo Independent Power Project Transmission Station.

Having electricity for upward of 18 hours in a day in Kwara, in a country like Nigeria, may sound incredible but yet it is a fact that has resonance and is validated on the streets of Ilorin and beyond. I found this particularly fascinating because of the multiplier-effect it would have on the economy of the state.

I was pleasantly surprised when I realised that with as little as N300, indigenes of Kwara State can have access to quality healthcare all year round through the innovative community health insurance scheme, a scheme that was roundly applauded by the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki -Moon on his recent visit to Nigeria.

Today, Kwara is noted as one of the best in the country on health care delivery because from inception, Saraki embarked on an aggressive health policy that saw to the convening of a health summit, increase in drug supplies to health centers across the state, provision and replacement of obsolete medical equipment and facilities and the review of salaries of medical personnel in the state.

Mr. DEBO IBRAHIM, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Ilorin, Kwara State.