By Deji Osibogun
The acronym Yayi in Yorubaland is a shortened form of Eni to ya’yi or Omo to ya’yi, that is a person or child of an esteemed stature. The person that bears that esteemed name as an alias is no other person than Distinguished Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola presently representing Ogun West Senatorial District of Ogun State at the hallowed chambers of the Nigerian Senate. Indeed he’s an esteemed and erudite politician who understands the type of politics being practised in Nigeria. He’s no more a minnow in politics having been in it for the past 20 years plus.
Let me give readers a little about the political history of Yayi that’s available in the public domain. Yayi as he’s fondly called by his admirers is known to be a graduate of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic in Ondo State and got involved in politics during the start of the Fourth Republic when in 2003 he won the seat to represent Alimosho State Constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly under the flag of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He contested for the same seat in 2007 after serving 4 years and he won another four years. Thereby he effectively served eight years as a State Legislator at the Lagos State House of Assembly.
At another election cycle in 2011 after serving eight years, Yayi contested for Alimosho Federal Constituency seat at the Federal House of Representatives and won. He became the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts from 2011 to 2015. Again, during the 2015 elections as a deft politician that he is, he moved to a higher realm of political contest by contesting for and winning the Lagos West seat at the Senate of the Federal Republic. This feat he repeated in 2019 and won the same seat for another 4 years, thereby effectively serving the people of Lagos West of Lagos State for 8 years at the Nigerian Senate.
In 2023, when President Bola Tinubu made his first and successful attempt at the Presidency of Nigeria, Senator Solomon Adeola, Yayi made a most audacious political move by crossing over from Lagos West Senatorial District to contest for Ogun West Senatorial District seat in order to serve at the Senate for a commanding 12 years on a stretch. Some people thought he would not be accepted in Ogun West but he was bound to succeed under the political umbrella of President Bola Tinubu. The All Progressives Congress (APC) cleared all the National Assembly seats in Ogun State. So, Yayi not only successfully crossed politically from Lagos State to Ogun State, but has acquired for himself a 20 years uninterrupted political participation/largesse in the Nigerian political stratosphere. For this, one needs to credit him for understanding the politics of the underprivileged people of Nigeria, especially Ogun West.
Now, let’s explore his political journey into Ogun State. In fact, it was not in 2023 that he first made his foray into the politics of Ogun State.
He made an attempt in 2019, but was drastically checked by the then Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
At that time, Yayi was said to have attempted to contest for Governorship by claiming that he is an indigene of Isaga Orile but Amosun was said to have pointed out to him that the place he’s claiming to have originated from is in Abeokuta North Local Government, the same local government as SIA and former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Yayi was said to have seen the political futility of his move then and was said to have tactically withdrawn back to Lagos West and supported Mr Dapo Abiodun for Governor with an alleged promise from the latter to support him in his future political foraging into Ogun State. An agreement was allegedly struck between both parties and while Dapo Abiodun won the governorship seat of Ogun State in 2019, Yayi successfully returned as Senator for Lagos West.
So, in 2023, as one good turn deserves another and in a bid to win a second term as Governor, Yayi was alleged to have brought in his political war chest not only to contest for the Senate seat of Ogun West by now claiming to come from Ilaro in Yewa South local government instead of the former place in Abeokuta North local government, but he was also said to have helped the second term bid of the incumbent Governor, so that he could take a shot at the governorship seat of Ogun State come 2027. This, no doubt, are master dribbling political moves but some things are or will or may be debilitating against this 2027 political ambition of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, Yayi. That is, the Ijebus too have for so long been denied the governorship of Ogun State since the start of the Fourth Republic and we can no longer stay aloof and watch as another political opportunity beckons on producing the next governor of Ogun State in 2027.
Ogun State was created in 1976 and the only Ijebu who had the democratic privilege of becoming the Governor of Ogun State, was late Chief Bisi Onabanjo (Aiyekoto) from 1979 to 1983. That was just four years before the military struck and disrupted our democratic journey in 1983. Since the start of the present political journey of the Fourth Republic, no indigene of Ijebu has produced the governor despite having myriads of qualified sons and daughters of Ijebuland. 2027 beckons and Ijebus are saying, Awa’lokan! It is our turn to produce the next governor of Ogun State, even if just to complete the four years of Aiyekoto to make it eight years for the Ijebus as having occupied the governorship seat. The Egbas have had 12 years with the combination of Akinrogun Segun Osoba (1999-2003) and Senator Ibikunle Amosun (2011-2019). The Remos have so far guaranteed for themselves 16 years as Governor of Ogun State, with Senator Gbenga Daniel (OGD), (2003-2011) and the present Governor Dapo Abiodun (2019-2027).
We, the Ijebus, strongly believe that with five local governments and the array of people with pedigree that we parade, the Governorship should be our turn to produce in 2027.
Now back to Yayi and his present ambition; I believe that he should either take a leave of absence from politics after 24 years of uninterrupted participation in quality positions of Nigeria’s politics in 2027 or contest again for Senate in Ogun West. He could even decide to pitch his tent with an Ijebu candidate for Governor.
One dare ask without the risk of sounding absurd that what exactly do Yayi bring onboard in wanting to be Governor of Ogun State? So many people talk of the constituency projects he has heavily engaged in but such people fail to realise that these are projects made available by funds from the coffers of the Federal Government. We should make them remember that Yayi occupies a position of privilege as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee that sees to the passage of the budgets of all Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies. He sits atop a behemoth that oversees the sharing of the proverbial Nigerian cake and members of that Committee, not to talk of its Chairman, really weighs heavily on what legally passes into the Appropriation Act, each year. In short, Yayi wields a lot of influence in accruing Federal projects to any Senatorial District he represents which definitely will be curtailed the moment he leaves that privileged seat for any other position. In short, the privilege available to him as the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee of the Senate will no longer be available to him in the position of governor of Ogun State that he is seeking or any other position for that matter except as the Senate President. The flow of money, in any other position, becomes short and constrained compared to his present position as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
People are even insinuating where exactly are the tricycles, motorcycles, hair dryers and all what have you that our representatives share as poverty alleviation palliatives? One dare ask where do these materials disappear to after they are supposedly distributed to the indigents? Some people say there’s “round tripping”. Who are those that monitor the aftermath of this heavily publicised poverty alleviation palliatives? I believe it is high time we all wake up from our saliva dripping slumber and participate in seeing that the dividends of democracy get to our people.
More so, who monitors the quality of the roads or buildings that are constructed as constituency projects? How durable are they? Where are the checking points to see that these projects are quality projects and not just jobs for the boys? We will henceforth work to see to the truthfulness of these projects that the masses should by now be feeling the good impact of them.
Most importantly for this piece, is to awaken my Ijebu brothers and sisters that we must not allow anybody to use their bread to finish up our pot of soup (E ma je ki won fi buredi ko wa l’obe je!). Let it be therefore known henceforth, that the sensitisation of the Ijebus have started in order to prepare ourselves in producing the next Governor of Ogun State in 2027. We have waited patiently enough. Now, the journey has started!
•Otunba (Giwa) Deji Osibogun, an elder statesman, writes from Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
