August 05, (THEWILL) – Kwara state was created on 27th of May 1967 as one of the 12 states created from the original four regions of the Nigerian Federation. Located in North Central Nigeria, it has a land mass stretching across 36,823 km. Its population is estimated at 3,390,330 and is recorded as one of the least densely populated in the country.
Kwara has 16 local government areas. Ilorin, the state capital is also the largest town.
Its major agricultural produce include yams, corn (maize), sorghum, millet, onions, and beans which also serve as the most important staple crops; rice and sugarcane are significant cash crops in the Niger floodplains of Kwara where cotton and tobacco are grown also grown. Farming, fisheries and livestock are the people’s main occupation, while cotton weaving, pottery making, and the making of raffia mats are the traditional crafts.
The state capital, Ilorin, has food-processing and iron industries.
Jebba is popular for it hydroelectric power station shared between Kwara and Niger state. It is also a major industrial town, with a pulp and paper mill and sugar refinery.
There are Six Universities, five polytechnics, 15 colleges of education and about 600 secondary schools. The state has an International Airport and an Aviation College close by it in Ilorin. The institution operates a system that includes Flight School, Maintenance School, Air Traffic Control School, Support Services School Laboratory and Air Hanger
Kwara hosts the first museum in Nigeria, The Esie Museum built in 1945.
One of the most historic monuments is the sight on the hill of an island of River Niger in honour of Mongo Park, a foreign explorer who traced River Niger to its source in 1796.
Other tourist attractions include the Owu waterfalls, Imoleboja Rock Shelter, Ogunjokoro, Kainji Lake National Parks and Agbonna Hill Awon Mass Wedding in Shao.
Asa dam the largest source of portable water was created to increase water supply by 50,000 cubic metres per day and also serves as source of water for irrigation, fisheries and livestock within the state.
Water and road transport are active occupations in the state.
FACTS-FILE OF KWARA
Budget 2021 N137.6billion.
Total Revenue N61.7bn (@2020)
FAAC allocation N42.1bn @2020 (68.23% of total revenue)
Total IGR N19.60bn @ 2020 (31.77% of total revenue)
Domestic Debt N62.89bn @ 2020
External Debt $47.1m @ 2020
Total Tax N9.27bn
Economic growth: GDP 6%, GDP $3,74bn Ranked 19 in Nigeria GDP in 2020.
Labour working age population: 81.3% ranked 12th in Nigeria
No. of companies: 943
Secondary Schools: 600 (circa)
Public secondary schools: 66,003 (@ 2009)
Pupils in public primary schools: 201,476 (@ 2009)
Teachers in primary and second schools: 20,522 (@ 2012)
Nomadic primary school teachers: 294 (@2008)
ENDOWNMENT AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Kwara is endowed with very large land mass that is suitable for the production of different kinds of exported Agricultural commodities. Agribusiness, particularly processing, transportation and storage will create huge employment and yield substantial returns for investors. Cottage industries in the MSME sector will be lucrative.
The state government has embarked on massive mechanized farming by procuring large quantity of tractors and other equipment. Gov. Abdul Razaq said mechanisation is key for the success of the crop production pillar of the state’s agric blueprint. He added that the administration had kick-started the implementation with the recent flag off of farm inputs subsidy scheme which gave at least 10,000 farmers access to improved seedlings, fertilisers and chemicals at half the market price.
According to the Collaborative Survey Conducted by National Bureau of Statistics, Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development and Federal Ministry of Trade & Investment, this state produced about 39,000MT of Raw Cashew Nut in 2012. Using the national average of about 38%, this state currently has arable land that is about 1,414,080.00 hectares of lands. Recent findings show that the state is using just 40% (565,632 hectare) of this land for Cashew nut plantation. The yield per hectare of Cashew nut is 1MT per hectare (even though, there are varieties that can yield more).
