KWASSIP: A Conduit Pipe with ₦16.3BN in 4 Years — How Many Kwarans Have Been Lifted? Dr. Tejidini or Gov. AA?

KWASSIP: A Conduit Pipe with ₦16.3BN in 4 Years — How Many Kwarans Have Been Lifted? Dr. Tejidini or Gov. AA?
By Hon. Comr. Salahudeen A. Lukman (Eluku Omo Adugbo)

Only the duo have so far been lifted in Kwara! 

#IjobaMekunu indeed - building more poverty than alleviating it.

In a state where hardship has become the norm and citizens groan under the weight of economic adversity, it is deeply troubling that over ₦16.3 billion has been allocated under the banner of poverty alleviation through the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) with no visible evidence of lives being uplifted or livelihoods transformed.

The pressing question remains: Who is truly benefitting from this massive allocation, the impoverished Kwarans or a political elite feeding fat on public funds?

Let us take a fact-based walk through Kwara’s poverty trajectory and the corresponding KWASSIP budgetary allocations that seemingly grew alongside the deepening misery of our people.

Kwara’s Poverty Profile (2019–2024)

2019: Kwara State had a poverty headcount rate ranging from 21% to 40%.

2020–2021: The COVID-19 pandemic struck hard, worsening the living conditions of the majority of poor households.

2022: According to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index, poverty in Kwara rose to 48.3%.

2023: The poverty rate climbed further to 56.0% at the $3.65/day threshold, with 11.7% living below $2.15/day.

2024: While real-time data remains elusive, reports indicate that 56% of rural households in Kwara are considered poor.

KWASSIP Budget Allocations (2020–2024)

2020: ₦1.89 billion

2021: ₦1.5 billion

2022: ₦300 million

2023: Allocation not disclosed

2024: A staggering ₦12.6 billion

Cumulatively, ₦16.3 billion has been funneled into KWASSIP over four years, an amount significant enough to build empowerment hubs in all 16 local government areas, fund thousands of small businesses, or establish a statewide social welfare registry to identify and support truly vulnerable households.

Yet today, Kwarans are asking, loud and clear: 

 Where is the impact? Where is the transparency? Who are the real beneficiaries? 

We are not blind. We see the flamboyance of a few, not the empowerment of the many.

Dr. Tejidini, the man at the helm of KWASSIP, must now answer: Where is the ₦16.3 billion meant for the poor?

And to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Gov. AA), we ask When is the long-overdue “mega empowerment” happening — or is this reckless spending simply a cover-up before anti-graft agencies come knocking?

Before the storm of accountability breaks, the Kwara State Government must act not with arrogance, but with humility, transparency, and responsibility.

This level of impunity is unprecedented. Kwara has never had it this bad, where public funds are squandered without tangible results, while poverty continues to deepen and citizens suffer in silence.

We therefore call on the state government to immediately publish a comprehensive list of all beneficiaries of the KWASSIP programme from 2020 to 2024. If there is nothing to hide, now is the time to prove it.

Until then, we pray Kwara survives the remaining two years of this opaque and irresponsible governance. And we remain committed to asking the hard questions, for the sake of our people.

Signed:

Hon. Comr. Salahudeen A. Lukman

Eluku Omo Adugbo