••• Citizens Says Kale Kawu is a man whose time has come
The campaign for change in Kwara has entered a new and troubling phase. Officials of the Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency, KWASSA, have commenced the systematic removal of billboards belonging to the PDP governorship candidate, Mallam Kale Kawu, across Kwara Central.
The exercise, which began from his family house in Agaka, Ilorin West, was extended to Tanke, Unity, and other high-traffic areas where his campaign materials had become visible in recent weeks. According to residents who witnessed the operation, some billboards were damaged in the process before they were pulled down.
Sources within the communities say the clampdown is driven by panic. With momentum shifting and the message of “The Kale Kawu’s Ideas” gaining traction in markets, schools, and on social media, the government appears to have concluded that it is losing the election already. Rather than engage with the ideas, it has chosen to engage with the images.
But the removal has produced the opposite of its intended effect. Citizens who recorded the agents on video were heard telling them directly: _“You can remove his billboard throughout the state, but you cannot remove his love from our hearts. You cannot remove the readiness for change that is already in Kwarans.”_
That sentiment has spread quickly. From Ilorin South to Ilorin East and Asa, residents are interpreting the action not as regulation, but as intimidation. They argue that if the government had a record to campaign on, it would not need to pull down the face of its opponent.
Political observers note that the move mirrors the last days of an administration that has run out of arguments. In place of projects, there are seizures. In place of dialogue, there is clampdown. In place of performance, there is fear of a message.
Yet no amount of billboard removal can erase the conversations happening in homes. No agency can dismantle the hope that has been rekindled by “The Kale Kawu’s Ideas” — ideas centered on service, structure, and security; ideas that speak to roads, jobs, education, and accountable governance.
The people have made up their minds. The billboards may come down. The posters may be torn. But the call for change remains. It is written in the faces of traders, in the voices of students, in the prayers of elders, and in the determination of youths.
As one citizen put it after the Agaka incident: _“Let them remove every board. Kale Kawu is already on the board in our hearts.”_