It is true that great cities, with magnificent architecture, breathtaking layout and monuments don't come by chance. They are the fruits of some lifetime of devotion to beauty and art. A city like Paris , for instance, is the legacy of some legendary kings who are evidently aesthetes. Widely described as being like a woman with flowers in her hair, Paris was developed into a paragon of beauty during the renaissance- a period lasting between the 1300's and 1500's. Today, Paris alone hosts nothing less than 2 million tourists yearly. They are drawn in by the charm of its scenic parks, museums, palaces and monuments.

To the careful observer, Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State has distinguished himself as a postmodern scion of this medieval dynasty of aesthetes. In a world madly chasing advanced technology and global commerce as the utmost value, Governor Bukola Saraki has sensibly held on to values of a beautiful and healthy environment while not despising the former. Keen as his sense of aesthetics is, it has had much sensible influence on his style of administration as it is no doubt the driving impetus behind his ‘Clean & Green' policy. From the child's play many take it for when it was launched on 13 th august, 2003, ‘Clean & Green' has blossomed luxuriantly, in an rid soil.

In the most dramatic manner, our environment, roads, and neighbourhoods have translated from an embarrassing spectacle of debased squalor into Paradise land. The big credit is owed to the reinvented Kwara State Waste Management Corporation (KWMC) and its proficient operatives.

Under a most radical arrangement, the meticulous Governor Saraki, whose befitting sobriquet is “Mr. Due process” contracted out the daunting job of sustaining a clean, healthy metropolis to O'la Kleen-an approved cleaning outfit-under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

The activities of the ‘Clean & Green' army that resulted is remarkable. Covering a total of 142.8km of road network, which crisis-cross Ilorin metropolis, their work is not limited to surface level sanitation.

They run a waste collection and disposal service. Under this service they strategically place their receptacle (or Ro-ro) bins in virtually all neighborhoods in the metropolis for waste collection and regularly dispose of this waste with dedicated trucks. They open up and clear blocked drainage's along these routes, which causes flooding and erosion during rain. They also keep road medians, roundabouts and roadsides trim.

Realizing that the miracle of ‘Clean & Green' cannot be wished away, residents of areas outside the coverage of ‘Clean & Green' have made representations to the state government about their exemption from its benefits. Nevertheless, the state government has extended the glad tidings of ‘Clean & Green' to localities beyond the state capital. Far-flung towns like Offa, Omu-Aran, Oro, Gbagede, Moro and so on have since been enjoying the services of KWMC. To entrench this value of environmental cleanliness further still Governor Saraki has also re-introduced the monthly sanitation exercise throughout the state.

A prime indicator of extreme poverty is poor, unhealthy living conditions, which is characterized by a squalid environment. Apart from undermining the health of the people, it stimulus it is an image of disorder itself-corrupt and debased ad even criminal thought, whereas sanity of the environment foster sanity of the body and mind, activating healthy, creative, thoughts which in turns anchors development.

Hence, programmes like ‘Clean & Green' - at a time when uncontrollable heaps of refuse sprouting spontaneously is a dormant feature of most cities-is a prudent approach to elevating the life of the common man.

With such indicative approach, as embodied by ‘Clean & Green' to the issue of economic development, Governor Saraki is achieving two crucial developmental ends, in one breath, with meagre state resources. Mention must be made of the over 2,000 jobs that have been created so far in ‘Clean & Green'. Most heartwarming is that fact that these jobs have been specially biased to favour women and youths in the state-the groups worst hit by the scourge of unemployment. This is certainly a merit coming side by side with environmental sanity.

In yet another monumental project, the State Ministry of Environment is transforming our sub-urban streets and roads into tree-lined groves. A green revolution has swept over us before anyone can even say 'Green' or fathom what the coinage ‘Clean & Green' explicitly connotes. Up to 13 roads within the metropolis have been marked in this revolution. Sycars, thuja, various creepy plants and amenity trees are to landscape the road median as well as setbacks.

One major threshold of Governor Saraki's urban renewal and redesign policy is the epoch-making decongestion of Oja-Oba square Ilorin . The market strip in the vicinity of the Emir of Ilorin's court has for long become dreadful to motorist and pedestrians passing through the area as well as shoppers who regularly visit the market because of its characteristic swarming, uncontrolled crowd. This crowd is typically made up of displaced hawkers, who spill dangerously into the road median; sheldless road-side traders, who take a good part of the narrow road making traffic crawl at snail-speed; and destitutes who have been quartered there for decades.

Most unfortunately, Oja-Oba doubles as the bus terminus for commercial vehicles entering the city from the south. Here, visitors alight and take in their first impression of the quaint city.

The redevelopment plan, which highlights crowd control, removal of traffic bottleneck and provision of adequate car parks for commercial vehicles and private cars, is being handed by the Kwara State Town Planning and Development Authority (TPDA) and work is now in earnest in Oja-Oba.

In similar flurry of activities, the Forestry Development is putting up secretariat parks within Ilorin metropolis. One is the Metro Park , which is the former Amusement Park being given a new look. Second is the new Mini Park . Adequate renovation has been proposed for satellite and Pategi Regatta Motels in Ilorin just as it has been done with Kwara Hotel, where hospitality and comfort has both been splendidly redefined.