Senator Yayi And His Indigenship Saga
During the days of the late Pa Obafemi Awolowo, governance was a tool through which infrastructure was provided while the lives of the people were improved. In current society the narrative has changed as some politicians see politics as a tool through which they intimidate and oppress the less privileged and loot the treasury.
A couple of months back Senator Ademola Solomon Olamilekan was appointed as the APC candidate for the Ogun State gubernatorial election and since then some critics were of the view that Senator Adeola is not an indigene of Ogun State. To start with, who is Senator Adeola Solomon Olamilekan?
He joined active politics in 2001 and emerged as a State House of Assembly member in 2003. From there he contested for the House of Representatives before he was elected to the Senate.
One question in the heart of the electorate is that if Senator Adeola is not a patriotic Nigerian who is committed towards infrastructural growth, the electorate would not give him their mandate to represent them in any capacity. Senator Adeola joined Ogun State politics and emerged as a senator representing Ogun West senatorial district and since then he has continued to give hope to the hopeless by attracting federal government presence to Ogun State.
In Ogun State today, when it comes to infrastructural presence, Senator Adeola is number one in the reconstruction of roads, construction of health centres and construction of palaces for royal fathers. I am sorry to say he is the best senator in the South West Nigeria.
What are the expectations of the electorate? The electorate desire a politician who will use his office to reduce hardship on the people through social amenities that can stand the test of time. Whether Senator Yayi is an indigene of Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali or the United who will be able to leverage available resources to develop the people.
Those criticising Yayi's indigeneship - what are their qualifications? Do they have moral values? When they were in power did the grassroots benefit from them? These are questions waiting for answers. Nigeria as a country needs to start doing things based on merit; the most qualified candidate should be given the privilege to serve the people.
Whether Yayi is from Dahomey, Ghana or South Africa, that is not the issue. The issue is that Yayi has passion for human development and infrastructural growth and he will give Ogun State a brighter and rewarding future. Politicians need to start campaigning with the programs and ideas they intend to use to improve quality of life and not about indigeneship and piggery farming - how would that add value to the populace.
