Olanrewaju Fatunmbi

Last week, the 10th National Assembly marked its midterm milestone, highlighting achievements and challenges in Nigeria’s democratic journey. Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola (aka Yayi) representing Ogun West Senatorial District, has not done anything less, giving account of his stewardship to his constituents. For the return of a good turn, midterm of a four-year tenure is an auspicious time to do a stock-taking. Stock-taking is an essential aspect of good governance, promoting transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement. By reflecting on past actions and decisions, one can assess the effectiveness of his policies and programmes, identify areas for improvement and use the lessons learned to shape future initiatives.
The feedback from Adeola’s scorecard has been quite commendable, motivating and inspiring. Since his re-ascendancy to the upper chamber on June 13, 2023, exactly two years ago, his major concern has been the pursuit of impactful representation to transform socio-economic well-being of his Ogun West people. As already well known, Yayi has a long and active legislative career spanning over two decades at both state and federal levels. In the last two years, which primarily cover his current tenure in the 10th National Assembly, his law-making accomplishments have focused on several key areas, particularly given his influential role as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
With that vantage position, he plays a central role budgeting process, scrutinizing the national budget proposed by the executive, conducting budget defense sessions with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and overseeing the eventual passage of the Appropriation Bill. His leadership in this committee has been critical in shaping Nigeria’s fiscal policies, ensuring budget processes align with government goals, and monitoring revenue generation for accountability. He is instrumental in ensuring timely passage of the national budget, even when faced with delays due to tax reform deliberations.
Senator Adeola’s active sponsorship of bills and his crucial leadership role in the Appropriations Committee underscore his continued involvement and impact in the nation’s law-making process within the last two years. Notable among the bills he has sponsored are Nigerian Railway Corporation Act (Amendment) Bill (SB 09), Federal College of Geological and Cement Studies (Establishment) Bill (SB 109), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) Act (Amendment) Bill (SB 265), National Institute for Border Studies, Imeko, Ogun State (Establishment) Bill (SB 323) and the Bill seeking the conversion of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, to Federal university of Technology.
Other than law-making, the result of his interventions and accomplishments in such critical areas like roads, education, healthcare delivery, human capital development, youth and women empowerment remains yet unequalled and unparalleled.
Over the past two years of his representation, assessment record shows that Senator Yayi has executed over 250 constituency projects, completed or ongoing within Ogun West Senatorial District. This figure excludes those he facilitated in other parts of Ogun State. He has also empowered more than 40,000 residents within the district. That is unprecedented. It’s a representation redefined.
These projects span various sectors, reflecting a comprehensive approach to constituency development. The road infrastructure projects he has facilitated include, among others, Ilara/Ijoun/Oja Odan/Ifonyintedo/Ilashe road ( over 100), Ilashe-Okere Township Road in Ipokia Local Government, Sabo-Babalawo Road in Imeko-Afon Local Government,
Idogo-Ipaja Road in Yewa South Local Government, Abeokuta-Iboro-Ilaro Road (rehabilitation), Construction of Kemta-Idi Aba Estate inner road in Abeokuta South LGA (Ogun Central). indicating reach beyond Ogun West.
This is in addition to over 15 road projects completed and nine ongoing in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area alone. Specific township roads like Afon Township Road, Area 5 to Immigration Junction Road, Aitedo Road Ilara, Igbo Ifa Road, Idofa Township Road (all in Imeko-Afon LGA) are all to Adeola’s credit
His rural electrification project involves provision and energization of over 100 units of 500KVA electric transformers and 5,000 solar street lights to communities across Ogun West.
To facilitate community engagement, he has constructed several town halls and mini stadia which serve as hubs for community activities. In the same way, he has built Police Stations at strategic places within the district e.g. Iwoye-Ketu Police Station, Police Post at Pahayi, Ilaro to enhance community security.
Provision of accessible education occupies a prime of place in Adeola’s agenda. To realize that objective, he has constructed over 150 new classrooms in primary and secondary schools across 25 locations. Examples include 2 blocks of 16 classrooms at Army Day Secondary School, Owode, and Iwoye Area Community High School.
This has been complemented with the establishment of well-equipped Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) centres to enhance computer literacy e.g. at Muslim Progressive High School, Oke Odan, and School of Nursing, Ilaro).
He has also been instrumental in facilitating the commissioning of projects, mostly TETFUND-sponsored at federal tertiary institutions in Ogun Central, like Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) in Ogun East, and Federal College of Education (FCE), Osiele, Abeokuta, Ogun Central.
For the healthcare delivery, Adeola’s imprimatur could be boldly seen in the number of Primary Healthcare centres he has facilitated, including the General Hospital, Imeko; Okeagbede-Moriwi PHC, Atapele PHC; Ilara PHC, often equipped with ambulance. Added to all these is the establishment of 2 Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at State Hospitals in Ilaro and Ota and provision of essential drugs and medical equipment, and solar mini-grids for hospitals.
It goes without saying that his empowerment items like mini-buses, tricycles, motorcycles, welding machines, deep freezers, generators, vulcanizing machines, grinding machines, sewing machines, hair dressing kits, make-up kits, catering equipment and cash grants for entrepreneurship have changed the fortune of thousands of beneficiaries.
Adeola’s desire to enhance human capital development has seen him established a board responsible for yearly awards of cash grants (N100,000-N200,000) for bursary and scholarship beneficiaries.
These extensive projects are often cited by his supporters as evidence of his effective representation and commitment to the development of his constituents, contributing to the clamor for his governorship aspiration.
Just recently, Anglican Bishop of Yewa Diocese, Rt. Reverend Michael Oluwarohunbi made a generous review of his antecedents in the past two years and unequivocally declared that the people of Ogun West have not had it so good since the creation of the state on February 3, 1976.
He said: “Your strides are not just developmental but transformational. You have restored the hope of our people that indeed, you are God sent to liberate us from our past state of neglect and underdevelopment.
“Yayi is evidenced of a broken siege through his intervention projects in Yewaland. The coming of Senator Yayi into the political space of Ogun West and Ogun State at large may be viewed as many of those things that happened in politics, but you will understand that it is evidenced of answered prayer and a curse broken by his uncommon human touch to Yewaland”, the Bishop stated.
The Bishop is not alone in his eloquent testimony to the performance of Adeola and his commendation. A
socio-political group, Ogun West Initiative, which has been following his activities since his election into the Senate, also corroborating the Bishop’s assessment, described Yayi’s mid-term performance as “unprecedented and transformative” in the history of the senatorial district.
The group, through its convener, Mr. Bolaji Adeniji, applauded Senator Adeola for adopting a multi-dimensional strategy that had resulted in massive infrastructural development, robust legislative performance, and large-scale empowerment schemes that had positively impacted lives across the five local governments (Imeko-Afon, Ado-Odo/Ota, Ipokia, Yewa North and Yewa South) in Ogun West.
His words: “In just two years, YAYI has delivered over 250 projects cutting across education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, and human capital development.
“This includes classrooms, libraries, ICT centres, primary healthcare facilities, roads, boreholes, transformers, and streetlights, among others.
He recalled the senator’s flagship Mega Empowerment Programmes which had directly benefitted over 40,000 constituents, while more than 5,000 students received bursaries and scholarships.
“Senator Adeola’s interventions have cut across all demographics-students, farmers, traders, artisans, and the elderly. From cash grants and start-up kits to school buses and ambulances, his approach has been holistic and impactful,” he added.
The latest in the series of his intervention projects is the solar street lights donated to TASUED to enhance campus safety. Tagged “Light Up TASUED,” this initiative aims to improve campus security, foster a safer academic environment, and support students’ well-being, particularly during nighttime study hours. The gesture reflects Senator Adeola’s unwavering dedication to delivering the dividends of democracy-especially to the younger generation who represent the future of the state and nation.