By Abduljalil Bala Daba

I have just read a rejoinder by Kwara PDP Starboy, Onilemarun Abdulkareem titled, “Ajakaye, the Only Fact-Checker Kwara Must Heed, and Kwara North’s Absurd Stakeholders.” Ordinarily, this is not the time for media back-and-forth, but I feel compel to respond to the part that concern Kwara North.

The rant by Onilemarun in the piece in question is nothing but a desperate attempt to blackmail Kwara North leaders while hiding under the unfortunate security situation.

The hypocrisy of Onilemarun and his PDP co-travelers is glaring: they pretend to care about our people, but in reality, they are simply trying to milk our pains for political advantage.

Let it be clear  Kwara North will not turn our backs against Governor Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq because of a crisis that is far beyond the full powers of any state governor.

Should Kwara North have risen in arms against the government instead of giving the authorities the chance to respond? Every government has faced its peculiar challenge, and insecurity is sadly Nigeria’s national nightmare. Yet PDP wants to twist this tragedy to push a selfish governorship agenda.

Even in anger, Kwara North is not daft. We know the limitations of a State Governor when it comes to security issue. We are also satisfied that efforts are being made.

The Governor is mobilising local structures and reaching out to the federal government for reinforcements? The Nigerian Air Force has launched airstrikes against the bandits, has widely reported. These are results, not rhetoric.

If Kwara PDP truly cares, they will have advance alternative suggestions to address the insecurity in the State they seek to govern.

But in their lazy attitude, they will rather attack the governor and insist they are not the ones voted to protect the people.

But a caring party ought to know that a party does not need to be in power to advance solutions, if they have any. After all, it is for a reason that opposition parties are known as alternative government.

It should be clear to the good people of Kwara State by now that this Kwara PDP only wants to capitalize on sudden emergencies like the insecurity we are currently battling to endear itself to the people and sneak back to power.

Otherwise, a real people-loving party does not sit around and claim to have some magic wand to solve a problem, but that it would only unveil same if the people barter with their votes.

That is not the ways of real and genuine opposition.

Opposition parties, at least those that love the people, are not just there to criticize the ruling party but also to provide citizens with another viable option for governance. But what is the solution the Kwara PDP has put forward to address the challenge we are facing with insecurity? NONE!

Moreover, if Onilemarun and the Kwara PDP have a modicum of fairness in their veins, they wont think the solution to insecurity lies squarely with Governor AA. And anyone who doesnt join them to condemn the governor does not love the people.

Simple question: was there not a governor in Borno when Boko Haram ravaged the North East? Was there not a governor in Zamfara and Katsina when banditry turned those states into killing fields? Is there not still a governor in Plateau where attacks on villages continue to make headlines? In all these places, the Federal Government had to step in with troops, air power, and intelligence before any real progress was made.

Kwara is not an exception, and admitting this fact is not making excuses for Governor AbdulRazaq  it is simply stating the reality of our security architecture.

To further illustrate the point: when late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State spearheaded Amotekun as a regional security initiative, the Federal Government under then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, even initially resisted its establishment, claiming it was unconstitutional.

That resistance underscored the limited powers of governors when it comes to security. If Ondo could face such pushback, how much more Kwara? These are the realities that unserious opposition figures like Onilemarun deliberately ignore just to score cheap political points.

But what is most shameful is the glaring strategy of PDP to drag Kwara North’s legitimate quest for political justice into the unfortunate issue of insecurity.

It is a deliberate attempt to blackmail our zone and to weaken our agitation for fairness in power sharing by tying it to the banditry crisis.

We reject this manipulation with all the force of truth. Kwara North’s aspiration for the governorship is about equity and justice, not about insecurity  and no amount of twisting will change that.

If the PDP was genuinely concerned about insecurity in Kwara, they would have shown moral leadership by postponing their recent Congress.

How do you claim to mourn the dead while organising a full-blown political jamboree? Worse still, they went ahead to produce a new chairman from Kwara North  the same zone they now pretend to cry for. If their tears were real, that new chairman himself should have declined participation out of respect for the grieving people of his senatorial district.

Instead, they carried on with politics-as-usual while shamelessly pointing fingers at others. This is not empathy; it is exploitation.

The irony is that the same PDP crying crocodile tears today had the opportunity for sixteen straight years to change the fortunes of Kwara North but did nothing.

They neglected our roads, abandoned our communities, and left us in poverty and underdevelopment. Governor AbdulRazaq, in contrast, has been proactive  from creating the Forest Guards initiative (similar to Amotekun in Ondo) to constantly engaging federal forces until reinforcements and airstrikes arrived.

Just today, Wednesday, Kwara State Government announced heightened operations by combined security forces in border towns between Kogi and Kwara, where kidnappers are believed to have hibernated.

The government also urged residents, especially in Ekiti, Ifelodun, Isin, Oke Ero, and Irepodun LGAs, to be vigilant and restrict outdoor activities for now. That is real leadership, not PDP’s empty noise.

Kwara PDP expecting us to join them in abusing and cursing the Governor will not work. We know better, and our people are not fools.

Abusing AbdulRazaq will not stop banditry, neither will cursing him restore peace. What Kwara needs is collective resolve, federal reinforcements, and the cooperation of all, not cheap partisan propaganda.

We will say it again: Kwara North will not turn our backs against Governor Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq. We will stand with him until this crisis is over and our state is safe again.

The PDP cannot love our people more than we do. Their attempt to exploit insecurity for political relevance is shameful, desperate, and dead on arrival.

At this critical moment, what Kwara needs is unity, not division. Kwara North will continue to support all genuine federal and state efforts to restore peace and secure our people.

And let it be known: any opposition that tries to politicise bloodshed and sow division will only end up exposing its own desperation. Our focus remains on justice, fairness, and safety for all Kwarans — and no amount of blackmail will derail that.