A leader is unarguably defined as someone who bears an all round influence on his or her subjects.

Much to that, he takes every angle of their dwellings as his responsibility and is always ready to take glory of any positive development and negative.

Checking through the annals of sports development in Kwara State, one will be disappointed not to get hold of any impact of Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi who was once a Minister of Youth and Sports.

As we speak, the current Minister of Youth and Sports in the country Sunday Dare, has been able to attract a youth and sports development centre to his hometown, organized different competitions from football, Table Tennis and Marathon with the view of giving back to the society and also empower the youth.

It’s quite unfortunate that today, Mallam Abdullahi can’t point to a single achievement to the development of the Ilorin Emirate in the angle of Sports development.

Why is it important to talk about this now? It has become necessary to elucidate the dossiers of the two major candidates vying to represent the good people of Kwara Central in the House of Senate in order to help the electorates make an informed decision when the election comes.

Against the run of Play, the disposition of Mallam Saliu Mustapha towards sports development recently has signalled a great future for the Emirate, which has over time been punching below her weights.

For the purpose of record, Saliu Mustapha lately single handedly threw the gate open for Kwarans to witness Kwara United’s last league game in the 2021 /2022 NPFL season and also paid the bonuses of all the players which boosted their morale to get continental ticket.

This gesture has not only propelled the team in their bid to become a top team in the country but has also handed them their age long dream of playing Continental games which was last played 11 years ago.

Surprisingly, Mallam Mustapha was also personally on ground to watch and cheer Kwara United at the Kwara State Stadium Complex, while Bolaji Abdullahi has never in any ways supported the Harmony Boys.

It must be noted that Kwara United is a team that brings all Kwarans together and one of the State’s assets they’re always proud of.

The last time Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi watched Kwara United’s match was in 2014 and his presence was not of any help considering how Kwara United were banished to Lokoja and eventually relegated to the lower division.

Ever since then, Bolaji Abdullahi has turned his back against developing or supporting anything Kwara Sports whether locally or nationally.

GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT

Recently, the Turaki of Ilorin was a guest at the final of the football tournament organized by the 2022 Durbar Committee in which the monetary support given to the organisers has emboldened them to further their cause in developing the Sport at the grassroots level.

Similarly, Mallam Mustapha was also at the final of the Wesley football competition where he donated money to the organisers and promised to continue to support them.

One can’t also forget quickly how Mallam Mustapha bankrolled a soccer tournament as part of a long week activities for his official installation as the Turaki of Ilorin Emirate. The football competition is today a reference points as a platform where talented footballers were discovered all to the glory of Emirate.

To this end, the Turaki of Ilorin has given the electorates a clue of what abounds in his plans to turn things around not only in Sports but across all field of human endeavours in Kwara.

End.