ASA Progressive YOUTH FORUM

Sweeping the school environment is now a substitute for paying teachers' leave-bonus allowances.

Imagine that the professor and the sole knowledgeable individual who has utterly failed to guarantee that the pay and well-being of Kwara State's teachers are commendable is also degrading them. Under the AA-led government, which Kwara State sector remains unfinished?

Civil servants in Kwara State must have learnt their lessons and should not hesitate to do the needful when the time comes to choose between those who will prioritise their well-being and those that will prioritise enslaving them.
Oba Kehinde

𝐊𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐏𝐃𝐏, 𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐄𝐁 𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

The Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State has condemned what it described as the “humiliation and public disgrace” of teachers by the Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Prof. Raheem Adaramaja, during an inspection visit to Government Day Secondary School, Amule, on Monday.

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Professor Adaramaja, You Were Once a Teacher Why Humiliate Your Own?

By: Abdulkadir Shaffi Idowu

In a recent and deeply troubling incident, reports have surfaced that Professor Adaramaja, the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), instructed teachers to sweep and pick up litter in front of their students. For many in the education community, this act has sparked outrage, disappointment, and reflection on what leadership and dignity in education truly mean.

Professor Adaramaja is not just any public servant he is a professor, a former teacher, and someone who has benefitted from the noble profession of teaching. One would expect that his leadership would reflect empathy, respect, and an understanding of the challenges teachers face daily. Instead, this action if confirmed represents a disturbing misuse of authority and a public humiliation of those who form the backbone of our education system. Professor Adaramaja, please remember, power is temporary, but the impact of your actions lasts forever. You were once in their shoes. Don’t forget what it felt like to stand before a class with pride. Don’t destroy that pride for others.

Teachers are not janitors. They are nation builders, mentors, and the intellectual foundation upon which society stands. To compel them to perform menial tasks in front of their students is not only degrading but also sends a dangerous message, that educators can be disrespected and demeaned without consequence, what lesson does this teach the children who watched their teachers their role models being treated in such a manner? Professor, you of all people should know better. Leadership is not about intimidating or embarrassing those beneath you. It’s about inspiring them. You could have led by example called for cleanliness campaigns, encouraged students to join hands with their teachers but instead, you chose public humiliation. Respect for authority, or contempt for the teaching profession?

True leadership is not about exerting power; it is about inspiring respect and dignity. A true leader uplifts others, especially those who look up to him. If discipline or cleanliness was the goal, there are better ways to enforce it through teamwork, student engagement, or the creation of a cleaner school culture not through humiliation.

Professor Adaramaja, as a former teacher yourself, you know the pride and struggles that come with standing in front of a classroom. You understand what it means to nurture young minds. Therefore, it is painful to see a man of such academic standing choose embarrassment over encouragement.

This incident should serve as a wake-up call to all leaders in education and beyond: leadership must never be divorced from humanity. The respect you give to those under you defines the quality of your leadership far more than the authority you command.

Our teachers deserve dignity and honor, not disgrace and humiliation.

Shaffi Idowu write from Ilorin East Local government ilorin Kwara State.

An Open Appeal to Christian Leaders and Parents: The Rise of Disrespect and the Moral Decay in Kwara’s Political Culture

The Emerging Leaders in Politics ( ELIP) writes with a deep sense of moral concern about the growing culture of disrespect for elders, clergy, and moral voices in Kwara State. A trend that threatens not only our political environment but also the spiritual and cultural values that once defined us as a people. Kwara which is popularly known for its tolerance, respect, and religious harmony, is gradually being dragged into a dangerous pit where youth are being introduced into a culture of arrogance and open defiance against authority figures, particularly clerics who speak truth to power.

It is no longer news that a syndicate of government-sponsored social media operatives, infamously known as “Data Boys,” has been introduced into Kwara politics by the media handlers of the present administration. These groups, armed with smartphones and stipends, have become tools of propaganda and character assassination. Their daily assignment is not to promote truth or development but to attack anyone, especially respected elders, clerics, and social commentators who dare to offer honest advice or constructive criticism to those in power. What was once described as a youth empowerment initiative has now turned into a coordinated online cult, where lies are spread, reputations are tarnished, and moral voices are mocked for daring to speak.

Our collective conscience was shaken recently when these so-called Data Boys launched coordinated verbal assaults on a highly revered Archbishop, whose only “sin” was to advise the Kwara State Government to show more compassion to pensioners, fix decaying infrastructure, and address the insecurity that continues to plague Kwara South. The Archbishop spoke the truth in love, yet rather than reflect, the government’s media handlers unleashed waves of abuse and insults through their paid online warriors. To watch our youths insult an elder of such moral standing is both heartbreaking and shameful.

It is sad that the same government that preaches moral renewal and claims to uphold the values of respect and civility has allowed this digital mob culture to flourish unchecked. No society can progress when its youths are trained to despise correction and vilify men of conscience. Those who encourage this moral decay are destroying the moral future of the state.
We therefore call on Christian leaders, parents, and guardians across all denominations - Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and indigenous churches to rise in one voice and condemn this dangerous trend. Silence is no longer an option when our sons and daughters are being groomed into a lifestyle of public insult and rebellion against moral authority. The Church must teach again that true loyalty to leadership does not mean blind defence of wrongdoing. Parents must remind their children that disrespecting elders or mocking preachers brings no blessing but a curse upon one’s path.

We equally call on the Kwara State Government to disband this “Data Boys” network and redirect the energy and resources being wasted on online propaganda into meaningful digital skills programs, innovation hubs, and entrepreneurial training that will truly empower young people. Let social media be a tool for creativity and education, not a weapon of defamation and hate. A government that fears criticism will never grow, and the effects are showing in today’s Kwara State.

To the respected Archbishop and every man and woman of God who dares to speak truth in these trying times, we say: do not be silenced. Your courage represents the voice of God and the conscience of society. History has always vindicated those who stood for truth even when it was inconvenient. The mockers of today will one day search for your words when truth begins to speak louder than power.
The Kwara we envision is one where truth is not silenced, where leaders are humble enough to listen, and where youths are known for creativity and honour, not insult and propaganda.

*Olamilekan IleriOluwa,*
Convener, Emerging Leaders in Politics (ELIP), Kwara State Chapter.
*For the Defence of Truth, Morality, and Godly Leadership in Kwara State*

Saraki to Abdulrahman: Face Your Responsibility as Governor, Secure Kwara State

The attention of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office had been drawn to the video clip of the statement made by Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq during his belated visit to Oke Ode where bandits recently killed 21 innocent persons in another episode in the series of violent attacks that have become daily occurrences across the Kwara South and North Senatorial Districts.

In a reckless manner that put on display his usual clueless and weird way of responding to issues, Abdulrazaq equated the frequent attack by bandits ravaging two of the three senatorial districts in the state with the Offa robbery incident and made false, defamatory, and irresponsible insinuations about former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki concerning the sad event that happened seven years ago.

Our view is that it is either insensitivity or a lack of capacity to appreciate and process issues that will make a governor equate the widespread killing, kidnapping, and maiming of people across two of the three senatorial districts with a robbery incident. The state of insecurity has forced residents of over 50 communities in the two senatorial districts to abandon their homesteads and relocate to Ilorin or leave the state entirely.

If Dr. Saraki called the attention of the state governor and the entire government to the widespread violence against the people and called for action from federal agencies, it amounted to dereliction of duty, lack of valid appreciation of the plight of the people, and total disregard for the safety of the constituents for the governor to resort to throwing tantrums and blackmail over an unrelated incident that has nothing to do with the former Senate President.

This Office believes Dr. Saraki has achieved his objective if his statement has led to national attention being paid to the killings in Kwara State. Also, Dr. Saraki’s speech had eventually compelled the governor to pay a visit to Oke Ode, one of the many towns that have witnessed Killings, kidnappings, and maiming of innocent people.

The handling of the security situation has proven Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to be an incompetent, insensitive, irresponsible, clueless, and unresponsive governor. Using the words of the governor, “it is laughable” that a state governor whose state experienced the killing of 21 people in just one community with many others being killed in other communities waited for five days before visiting the affected town while he had the time to junket to another state outside his zone to rejoice with another governor in far away Imo State who was commissioning projects for the benefit of his people.

Now that he has been compelled to visit Oke Ode to “assess the situation on the ground”, we would like to know when he will visit other local government areas in the state like Edu, Patigi, Isin, Irepodun, Oke Ero, and other towns in Ifelodun that have been witnessing incessant attacks by the bandits.

Again, using Abdulrazaq’s words, “It is also laughable” that after six and a half years as governor, one could count on the fingertips how many times the Kwara State Governor called a security council meeting in the state. Dr. Saraki’s advice is that the governor he needs to expand the membership of the Security Council to include all first and second class traditional rulers so as to engage them in fighting the menace. If he fails to tackle the crisis squarely, it will define his eight years in office and this will be a horrible legacy to bequeath to his successor.

He made reckless insinuations against Dr. Saraki because the former Senate President called him out on his failure to do his job, we wonder what he would do to the Governors of the South-west states who were reported in yesterday’s edition of the Punch Newspaper to have “Tighten Borders Amid Banditry Surge in Kwara”. We also expect Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to descend on the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade who has expressed concern over the recent killings in Oke Ode.

Dr. Saraki is not interested in bandying words with the Kwara State Governor. His call is meant to get the governor to show more empathy for the plight of the people and live up to his responsibility as the state’s chief security officer. It is obvious that never in the history of Kwara State has the State of Harmony witnessed this level of insecurity which is also being fueled by the insensitivity of the government of the day.

Like Dr. Saraki stated in his speech in Ilorin on September 27, 2025, we challenge anybody who has a contrary claim that there was any time in the past that Kwara State had been this unsafe and confronted by the threat to lives and property at this level to come up with the evidence.

Now to the Offa robbery case which the governor brought up in the video under reference. The Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office would like to put on record for the benefit of the members of the public that Dr. Saraki has nothing to do with the Offa robbery incident. This is a fact known to the powers that be then. It was also confirmed by the legal machinery of the federal government despite their hostility to the person and office that Dr. Saraki occupied at the time.

In two separate reports dated 22nd June, 2018, and 23rd August, 2018 respectively, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation, in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed U. E. stated that there was no evidence directly or indirectly linking Dr. Saraki to the Offa robbery.

Ee know that the Kwara State Governor will not only find it difficult to comprehend the contents of such reports, but he will also not believe the fact that one of the planks of the campaign of calumny which propelled him to the Governor’s Office has since collapsed like a pack of cards.

In the video clip under reference, Abdulrazaq gave himself out on his dubious move that we have known all the while. We knew that he had induced some family members of victims of the Offa robbery to file a civil case in court against the state government, himself as governor, and join Dr. Saraki as a party as a way of further embarrassing the former Senate President.

The fact is not lost on us that the lawyer defending the aide of the governor, Michael Yinka Fafoluyi in a libel case filed by Dr. Saraki is also the same lawyer who has been briefed to handle the case filed on behalf of the so-called selected families of Offa robbery victims.

We also called the attention of members of the public to the press conference by some members of the Offa community under the platform of “Offa Koya, Offa Kowosi” where they distanced the community from the dirty politics of using an unfortunate robbery incident as a tool of blackmail and smear campaign.

Again, some members of the families of the victims of the Offa robbery represented by Alhaji Abdul Oseni Aditu Eniolohunopa, Hajia Mulikat Jimoh, and Mrs. Danjuma Comfort on August 17, 2025, spoke on a radio Programme at the TNT Radio Station, Offa, where they publicly dissociated themselves from the malicious case in court and warned politicians to “stop seeking to score cheap political points at the expense of their grief”.

We would like the governor to know that if this slanderous and ridiculous statement he made at Oke Ode is his way of diverting attention from his failure to live up to his responsibility as the chief security officer of our dear state, then he has failed.

The Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office will advise Abdulrazaq to stop politicising the unfortunate plight of the victims of the Offa robbery and their families. His devious scheme and dirty politics have delayed getting justice and closure for the victims, their families, and the Offa community.

Signed

Yusuph Olaniyonu
Head, Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office
Abuja

When incompetent individuals occupy political positions, governance suffers, progress stalls, and the outcome is nothing short of disastrous