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Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday commissioned a garment factory in Ilorin, Kwara State, with a projected employment capacity of 4,000 workers at full production.
Shettima also commissioned the 11-storey Kwara Revenue Service (KWRS) House during his visit to the state.
The commissioning of the two projects formed part of activities marking the turbaning of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as the first Sardauna of Ilorin by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari.
Speaking at the turbaning ceremony at the Emir’s Palace, Shettima commended AbdulRazaq for what he described as continuity in governance, linking the governor’s public service to the legacy of his late father, Alhaji AbdulGaniyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq, SAN.
According to a statement by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha, the Vice President recalled that the late AbdulRazaq was the first lawyer from Northern Nigeria and the first Mutawalle of Ilorin.
“His father was the first Mutawalle of Ilorin, a title that remains in the family in celebration of their bond with the Emirate. Today, another chapter enters the family’s relationship with this palace,” he said.
Shettima said AbdulRazaq’s role as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum had brought him into regular engagements with the Federal Government and development partners on issues affecting states and the wider economy.
He said their responsibilities also intersected at meetings of the National Economic Council, where economic proposals, financing and implementation were considered.
“At the National Economic Council, our responsibilities meet in discussions concerning the federation and its states. We consider how economic proposals connect with implementation, financing and the circumstances of communities,” he said.
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The Vice President said AbdulRazaq’s administration had invested in classrooms, healthcare and roads linking communities.
“These are chapters in the story of a state as its people encounter it: the lesson a child can attend, the treatment a household can seek, and the market a farmer can reach,” he said.
Shettima said such investments needed to be sustained so that future generations could build on them.
The Vice President also spoke about his relationship with AbdulRazaq, saying their friendship had continued despite the demands of public office.
“There is something sobering about celebrating a friend while both of you remain answerable to the demands of public office. Titles will eventually pass into the record of our lives. The human bonds formed along the way should endure beyond the appointments through which other people first came to know us,” he said.
The garment factory was designed to employ at least 4,000 people when operating at full capacity, while the KWRS House is an 11-storey administrative facility for the state’s revenue service.
Governors of Imo, Kebbi, Plateau, Ekiti, Ogun, Niger, Bayelsa and Kaduna states attended the ceremony.
Others present included the representative of the First Lady, the wife of the Vice President, Nana Shettima; Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole; Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; Emir of Zazzau, Nuhu Bamalli; and the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Afọlábí Ọlaoye, Orumogege III.
