President Mohammadu Buhari has demonstrated his belief in value system and in the philosophy of politics without bitterness. Naming a national monument after the late Kwara political kingpin, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, depicts recognition and deserving reward for his invaluable contributions to socioeconomic and political development of Nigeria.
No doubt, Oloye Olusola Saraki was a concrete block in Nigeria's democratic structure between the Second and Fourth Republics (1979&1999). The late Dadakuada music maestro Odolaye Aremu, described Dr. Olusola Saraki as "Òjò wẹ́liwẹ́li Kwara; Toba lọ lèé rọ̀; Bi ará ti ntú talika ni n tú'jọ́bá (literally meaning, mass of water droplets that brought succour to both the rich and the poor). He was a *dominion*, a *sovereign authority* and the *main issue* in Kwara politics. The question was either you were for Oloye Olusola Saraki or you were against him. That was the situation since 1979 until 2011 when the moon of his political *empire* was forced into eclipse by a Biblical Absolom.
Late Dr. Olusola Saraki was a member of the Constituent Assembly that prepared the 1979 Constitution and he was later to become Senate Leader of Nigeria's 2nd National Assembly. The Waziri of Ilorin was a valued member of Arewa Consultative Council (ACF). He was the founder and sole financier of the Northern Union (NU).
The late Oloye Olusola Saraki made frantic efforts to rule this country under the following democratic dispensations:
*1979 under banner of National Party of Nigeria (NPN);
*1993 on the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP);
*1999 under All Nigerian People's Party (ANPP)
Certainly, he had paid his dues in the service to fatherland to earn him a cushion chair in the Hall of Fame, occupied by crème de la crème of the Nigerian contemporary history.
President Buhari is a designer of great ingenuity by the timing of this honour on Dr. Olusola Saraki, serving as a master stroke to correct an error and, to put the personality of ‘Oloye in proper historical perspective.
Bukola's Moral Dilemma
As Governor by proxy, Dr. Bukola Saraki disingenuously influenced the renaming of the Kwara State University (KWASU) after his father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. Not a few Kwarans cried blue murder against the decision, for it smacked of political corruption and indecent immortality.
It is trite in justice administration that ‘he who comes for equity must do so with clean hands. The moral question was why would a Bukola Saraki who had no iota of respect for our heroes past: Admiral Muhammad Alabi Lawal; Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin; Brig. Gen. David Bamigboye and of course, Lawyer AGF AbdulRasaq (all of blessed memory now), have attempted to honour his own father?
Against this backdrop, the ‘O to ge’ State Assembly reversed the name of the University to the status quo ante bellum, certainly not to denigrate the patriarch of the family but cut Bukola Saraki's nose to spite his face and to serve as lesson to others that power is transient - Seriki n goma, Zamani goma.
AbdulRahaman AbdulRasaq Dilemma
President Buhari's gesture is a wake up call on we Kwarans to learn to appreciate and give honour to whom it is due for the sake of posterity. Yoruba says "he who aspires to grow old should never throw away elders walking stick". If the youths of yesteryears who are leaders today fail to honour the leaders of the past, retributive justice would not allow them to be appreciated by the future leaders.
The principle of necessity has to be applied to correct the mistake of the past, therefore, it has become necessary to prevail on Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRasaq to send a Bill to the State Assembly, to seek an Act to award honours to deserving Kwarans, and the first set of the beneficiary shall be the four outstanding statesmen mentioned above (including Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki).
The available records of individual contributions should determine the taxonomy of each reward, to avoid giving the child of *Ọ́bà* to *Ọṣun* (Both are rivers in Osun State). The State Assembly could get the records enriched through public hearing during the legislative process.
It is an irony of history that the past has failed to do justice to the present, let not the present pass the baton of injustice to the future. Whatever goes around, comes around - Life is a vicious cycle.
Meanwhile, we should all continue to think outside the box to take Kwara to the Next Level. Ajuse o!
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