Yayi As Chair of Senate’s Appropriation Committee
Ezekiel Alabi
i join other well-meaning Nigerians in congratulating Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (aka Yayi), representing Ogun West Senatorial District, on his emergence as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation. Yayi, as you are fondly called, you earn my admiration for this feat and all you have achieved in the National Assembly since you became a federal lawmaker. While you were campaigning for your election, you did promise not to let us down and you have kept to your words. You have made us proud as a people.
This is yet another opportunity to prove your mettle as an astute financial expert. Among other things, the appropriation committee is responsible for reviewing the President’s budget request, hearing testimonies from heads of Ministries, Agencies, and Departments (MDAs), and drafting the expenditure plans for a new fiscal year.
In his May 29, 2023 Inaugural address, President Bola Tinubu had set a target of a six percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate (on average) in the next four years through budgetary reforms that would stimulate the economy. This may appear to be a tall ambition but with the cooperation of the National Assembly and the necessary synergy between the appropriation committee and the relevant agencies, I am confident that it will be achieved, especially from next year when the President will have his own full budget. My optimism is borne out of the fact that there is already a pool of experience to draw from to be able to drive the process from both ends of the executive and the legislature.
For the latter, Adeola will lead the charge. Before his foray into politics, he had worked in a high-level capacity in several reputable organizations as an accountant and a successful private sector player, culminating in the establishment of his own company, SOOTEM Nigeria Limited, which specialized in tax consultancy. With the present focus on aggressive technology-driven tax reform, he will surely bring his experience to bear on his new assignment. Coupled again with his decades of audit practice, he would also serve as an illuminating light for the Federal Government to be able to block all the leakages. Nigeria’s economy has been hemorrhaging for too long. We need a clean break from the past. And that can only happen if only we have competent people in key positions like this. Yayi is a tested and trusted hand.
Judging from the outlook of the lawmakers that constituted the current leadership of the 10th National Assembly, this dispensation holds a great deal of expectation for the people of this country. So much is expected from the present administration because this is the first time after the exit of the last vestiges of the military in our body politics that we will have a president who is prepared to move the nation forward with jet speed to deliver on his electoral promises. Hitherto, leadership evolution had always been a paradoxical case of the unpatriotic cultivating the unprepared. Except for the immediate past president Muhammadu Buhari, who fought a couple of times to get to power, all other leaders, like Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Umar Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan, had power thrust on their laps. They didn’t prepare for the task of governance.
Even Buhari, who fought for it, didn’t do much with it because he was unprepared. His ineptitude was so comprehensive that he had very little to show for the eight-year tenure of his administration.
We have finally put that sad experience behind us. And never again shall we allow undemocratic elements to lead us back to the abyss of the arbitrariness of the past. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the new Sheriff in town. He is here to clean the Augean stable. But he cannot do the job alone effectively unencumbered without the support of the legislature. Interestingly enough, this is also the first time we will have someone who combines executive and legislative experience as the Senate President in the person of Godswill Akpabio. So, it didn’t surprise many people when he announced Senator Adeola, CON, FCA, as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation. Only the deep can reach the deep. Indeed, only a person who knows the terrain of governance can appreciate the importance of having a round peg in a round hole at a time like this. We have never had it so good. In this dawn of a new era, capacity is very crucial in the drive to achieve the renewed hope agenda of the new administration.
With Adeola leading the appropriation committee, President Tinubu can now safely and effectively set out on a drive for his renewed hope agenda. With an evolving executive/legislature relationship, one can say without any equivocation that the sky can no longer be the limit but the beginning of a new trajectory of economic growth and abundant life for all.
For those who may not know, Adeola is proudly Tinubu’s boy. He is one of the galaxies of stars among the prime movers of Nigeria’s politics who cut their teeth under Asiwaju’s tutelage. But that is not the only reason he is considered fit for the job. He has worked to earn whatever he’s got in the red chamber.
In terms of law-making, Adeola is a repository of knowledge. As a ranking Senator, he represents the institutional memory of the National Assembly. One of the drawbacks of our current representative democracy is this incessant loss of experienced lawmakers at every turn of election season. Yayi is one of the few ranking senators whose experience would act as a catalyst for the speedy passage of people-oriented laws to support President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda. While serving as a lawmaker in the Lagos State House of Assembly, he was said to have been instrumental in the enactment of the laws that strengthened the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), legislation that catapulted the revenue profile of the state from N5 billion monthly to over N20 billion. He was also part of the team that passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Public Procurement Act of Lagos State. He will do more under the new dispensation.
Besides his law-making experience, he also has intimidating credentials as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), among other academic laurels. I have been following the trajectory of his political career since he was elected into the Lagos State House of Assembly to represent Alimosho State Constituency 2, it is, indeed, phenomenal. None of his contemporaries has had such a steady progression and high record of performance. His unblemished record while he served as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, earned him the latest appointment as the head of appropriation committee.
Commencing from his membership of the Lagos parliament, Adeola has up to date served in three different houses without looking back. He took a leap forward in his career progression when he got elected into the House of Representatives, representing Alimosho Federal Constituency between 2011 and 2015. Following the alliance that gave birth to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015, he picked the Lagos West Senatorial District ticket and won twice. In his burning desire to extend his service to his home state in the run-up to the last general election, he decided to move his political machinery wholesale to Ogun West Senatorial District where he contested for the third term and won. For being so audacious, he has the singular honour of being the first lawmaker to successfully undertake such a dicey political adventure and get away with it.
Much as he cherishes the feat, he doesn’t see it as a right but a reward for giving back to the communities in his Ogun home state. And for being so honoured with their votes in the last election, he has promised to reciprocate the love shown to him by pursuing projects that will make life more meaningful for all. Thumbs up for your vision, your quality representation, your genuine sense of purpose, your commitment to service, and your general philanthropy. You are indeed a blessing to the people of Ogun West Senatorial District and Nigeria at large. I am optimistic that you won’t let the guard down in your commitment to ensuring a better life for our people.
Upon his inauguration for his new mandate, Adeola has already assured that he would work assiduously to bridge the infrastructural gap and socio-economic deficit in his senatorial district by pursuing programmes capable of turning around the fortune of his people, while also reiterating his commitment to quality representation in Ogun West as he did in the Lagos West senatorial district.
Hitting the ground running, he started by empowering the widows with different ranges of items worth several millions of naira. As part of this year’s International Widow’s Day celebration, no fewer than 500 widows had been empowered with 150 Sewing Machines, 50 Freezers, 150 Grinding Machines, 150 Hair Dressing Equipment etcetera to enable them to fend for themselves.
This is in addition to the empowerment of 2310 trained constituents in the agric-value chain, fish production, advanced solar energy, event planning, hairdressing, confectionary, fashion designing, and barbing, among others.
Apart from facilitating the training programme, each of the 2310 participants also went home with N20,000 transport allowance, and requisite equipment/ cash grants ranging from N80,000 to N150,000. Over N200 million was said to have been disbursed directly to participants’ accounts in this phase.
Having been to the nooks and crannies of Ogun West while campaign activities lasted, and knowing where the shoe pinches, he has promised to make the gesture a yearly event. Before then, he had empowered over 10,000 persons, including 5000 market women and men. In furtherance of his philanthropy, he also gave over 25 transformers to some communities with electricity challenges. Not too long ago, he donated N50 million for the completion of Ilaro Central Mosque to the admiration of the Muslim community in the town.
Without any fear of contradiction, this is the first time Ogun West will have such an effective representation in the Senate. Thankfully, the Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan has dismissed the suit filed by Johnson Akindele Akinsanya and two others challenging his election. He floored his two opponents at the appellate court following the earlier ruling of the Federal High Court in Abeokuta.
The judgment is a victory for democracy; it is a victory for the good people of Ogun West. Your best is yet to come, Adeola. As we continue to savour your good representation in the Senate, we are solidly behind you. We assure you of our continued support as our good ambassadors. On your mandate, we shall stand. All in all, your homecoming as a Senator has remained a blessing for the state and the good people of your constituency. Ride on, the uncommon Senator.
Alabi wrote from Okeagbede, Imeko-Afon LGA of Ogun State
