ADEMOLA ADELEKE’S DANCE OF JOY

Anyone who has seen the trending  video of Ademola Adeleke,  the newly elected senator representing Osun West Senatorial district,  dancing so heartily would have been little surprised if he or she has read the words of Mark Twain:  ‘’Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great. “

It was an impulsive dance of joy; a dance of victory in a moment of glory.  In the thinking of some, the historic dance  is understandable for one major reason:  his dream to replace his late brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, at the Upper Chamber had been actualised,  in spite of the alleged threat by the state Governor,  Ogbeni  Rauf Aregbesola.

The Lagos-based socialite and businessman had the dream, held on to it with the firm belief that he would surely be victorious.  Until his emergence as senator in the last Saturday bye-election in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, many had sneered and even called him unprintable names.

With the victory, Ademola is now the third senator from the Adeleke  family. His father,  the late Chief Ayoola Adeleke who was Balogun of Ede was a senator under the Obafemi Awolowo- led Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN;  his elder brother, the late Isiaka Adeleke otherwise known as Serubawon, was also a senator.

He left the All Progressives Congress,  APC, after a fierce battle with Governor   Aregbesola whose preferred candidate was the more politically  experienced Mudashiru Hussein of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

His defection to the PDP turned the fractured political platform into a formidable force for the July 8 senatorial contest.

In the face of this, he pinned his hope on his family,  who is a force to reckon with in politics in  Ede, Osun State, his home town.