Silencing the Drums of Conscience: Kwara Under Alade’s Tyranny

By Wahab Oba

I had resisted the temptation to respond to the series of disheartening events unfolding in Kwara State in the past two weeks. That restraint was deliberate and conscientious, guided by political expediency and the hope that reason would eventually prevail. But silence in the face of tyranny is complicity, and the latest descent of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on the media compels me to speak.

The incarceration of Abdulrahman Bologi, Publisher of Nupeko TV, is not just merely a personal tragedy; it is a direct assault on press freedom, the very conscience of our nation and the watchdog of democracy. This action is not about silencing one journalist but about intimidating an entire profession and, by extension, the people of Kwara.

Yet, such brazenness has been made possible by the docility and betrayal of my own union, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). Instead of raising the banner of press freedom and defending practitioners, the Kwara State Council has shrunk into an appendage of government. By its cowardly silence, the Kwara State Council of the NUJ has become an accomplice in the persecution of journalists, trading its founding ethos for crumbs of patronage. This is not unionism; it is capitulation for personal gain. A union that should hold the government accountable now licks its boots. History will demand answers, and both the government and the NUJ shall one day be held accountable.

Across the state, voices of dissent have been systematically targeted. From SATCOM in Ilorin South, to Dare Akogun and his brother in Ifelodun, Sherif Gold in Ilorin West, Olusola Sholyment in Isin, Babatunde and Kayode Ogunlowo in Ajase-Ipo, Muhammad Soliu Onirankunmi in Ilorin East, and Tauheed Baruwa in Kwara North, activists and content creators alike have endured harassment, arrests, and persecution without justification. Their only “crime” has been speaking truth to power. Yet, the NUJ, Kwara State Council, an institution that should be the fortress of press freedom, has disgracefully abdicated its duty. Its leaders have traded the collective integrity of the union for personal gains, choosing the comfort of government patronage over the courage of principle. Not even during the persecution of Biliaminu Adedamola (Lord Billy), editor-in-chief of National Pilot Newspaper, did the NUJ find its voice. By this betrayal, the union has not only abandoned journalists in their hour of need but has shamelessly become an appendage of the very government it ought to hold accountable.

The judiciary, too, has not been spared the rot of compromise. Far too often, establishment judges bend under the weight of political pressure, bartering justice for favour and corroding what little trust the public still has in the courts. In this betrayal, citizens are left doubly victimised, first by the tyranny of power, then by the silence of the bench. In this climate of decay, a few rare judges have refused to bow, holding firmly to their oath and upholding justice with integrity. Their resilience proves that in the darkest nights of oppression, the flame of justice can still flicker, though surrounded by shadows of cowardice and corruption.

Governor AbdulRazaq surrounds himself with aides who mistake sycophancy for loyalty and elevate flattery above truth. This was most glaring in their reaction to the patriotic sermon of Bishop Amoo at the burial of Sen. Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo in Oke Onigbin. Instead of reflecting on his call; to pay gratuity arrears, fix inter-township roads, and tackle insecurity ravaging Edu, Patigi, Ekiti, Isin, Ifelodun, and Oke Ero; the governor’s aides launched vile attacks on the messenger. Such behavior is not only ignoble but inglorious, blinding the leader to reality and misleading the public.

The lies of Governor AbdulRahman’s handlers can not erase glaring evidence of misgovernance. Kwara State was recently ranked among the three worst-governed states in Nigeria by a reputable UK-based research organization, behind only Zamfara and Benue. This is no propaganda; it is global perception. Instead of reflection, the governor lashes out at critics.

The plight of pensioners is particularly shameful. In 2019, the backlog of gratuity debt stood at about N11 billion. Today, despite receiving over ₦1 trillion in federal allocations in just two years; with monthly FAAC rising from ₦2 billion in 2019 to between ₦15–₦20 billion; the backlog has ballooned to ₦23 billion. Funding is not the problem. It is greed, insensitivity, and lack of political will. Retirees who gave their youth to Kwara’s service now live in penury, waiting endlessly for entitlements that should have come with dignity.

Equally disturbing is the upsurge in insecurity. The relocation of the School of Nursing in Oke-Ode and the NYSC Orientation Camp in Edu to Ilorin is stark proof of the state government’s failure. Even the federal government had to intervene, directing the Army to establish an operational base in Oke-Ode. Yet, sycophantic aides keep chorusing the lie that all is well.

Inter-township roads tell the same story of neglect. The Ilorin–Egbe Road, begun in 2016, was abandoned halfway. The Share–Lafiagi, Share–Patigi, Igbaja–Oke-Ode–Shagbe, Omu-Aran–Idofin, and Ajase–Ipo–Eruku roads are all death traps. Infrastructure is about legacy; good roads outlive their builders, just as bad ones discredit them.

But beyond neglect lies betrayal. While pensioners groan under N13 billion in unpaid entitlements, the governor spends billions on vanity projects and propaganda. Instead of providing life insurance for vigilantes who confront bandits daily, his government waits for them to die, only to dole out a paltry ₦80 million as compensation; a pittance that mocks their sacrifice. True leadership would secure their families’ futures and educate their children.

Once again, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s governance has become a theatre of intimidation, false loyalty, and reckless spending. Politicians harassed, traditional rulers degraded, clerics derided, traders victimised, and now journalists imprisoned. This is tyranny in democratic clothing. Constructive criticism is the compass that keeps a leader on course.

Kwara must be rescued. Both Alade’s government and the NUJ that props it up have betrayed the people. Today, we acknowledge the few within the judiciary who have stood tall among the crowd, refusing to bow to pressure or sell their conscience. Tomorrow, history will remember not only their courage but also those who chose complicity over principle. History will judge them without mercy.