Re: 12 Years Ago, Someone Represented This Constituency But Failed To Give Good Representation

Our attention was drawn to a report worded with bitter lies and unfounded misconceptions credited to the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for Ilorin East and South Federal Constituency, Hon. Ganiyu Cook Olododo, pointing fingers at the leading candidate in the race who represented the federal constituency some 12 years ago at the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly, claiming that he was a failure. This is not only condemnable but also laughable. No doubt, this is borne out of Hon. Cook's desperation to remain in power, which has spurred him to keep swimming in murky waters. 

This rejoinder I feel is necessary at this critical moment. I want to dedicate this message to those who say the truth, propagate the truth, defend the truth, fight for the truth and are ready to die for the truth. Hon. Abdulwahab Oladimeji Issa is not perfect. He is definitely not without fault as a politician but the little light in him completely overshadows the darkness in others like Hon. Cook Olododo, if only we endeavour to set politics and sentiments aside.

Take Aristotle. For him, politics is “primarily concerned with the development and actualisation of human flourishing”. Thomas Jefferson, the third US President, put it this way: “The care of human life and happiness is the only legitimate object of good government.” And for Harold Macmillan, a former British prime minister, “the central aim of domestic policy must be to tackle unemployment and poverty”

Hon. Wahab Issa's track records and his antecedents in sustaining democracy stand tall for all to see. In fact, some analysts have jumped on the bandwagon to defend the fallacy concocted by the incumbent candidate, who has continued to be restless by the continuous endorsements of Hon. Wahab Issa across the length and breadth of the constituency. There was then a loud call for us to react, hence this becomes unavoidably important. If he has hurriedly forgotten history because he wanted to score cheap political popularity, we are on course to refresh his memory. Perhaps Hon. Olododo and his surrogates should be reminded, from the mouths of great philosophers and politicians, what’s the real purpose of politics and government. 

It is evident enough that Hon. Cook Olododo's only achievement in Akanbi I and II where he committed unforgivable blunders is only a pole of streetlight and a borehole. With just less than four months left in power, his achievements over the past three and half years are shrouded in dubiety. Yet, he’s touted such a transformational leader, such a great achiever by those who have only surrounded him to suck him dry, capitalising on his desperation to remain in power.

In Akanbi I and II, it was the same Wahab Issa that completely electrified the rural communities. With no pride or ever laying references to his achievements in the zone, the PDP candidate, some 12 years ago, had some successfully completed and sustainable projects in Alaya village, Agbada, Aireke, Olokobiri, Isokun and Joromo-Osin among other places. These are electrification projects that saved the communities from the age-long darkness ravaging them. The same gesture that the people of Kawu village and the Ago Ayekale community also enjoyed with heartfelt gratitude. Just like the Isoku-Olopan culvert. He has the presiding intellect with the intelligence to grasp and solve the problem. 

Hon. Wahab Issa also addressed some infrastructural challenges in Akanbi I and II. These include but are not limited to motorised boreholes in Alaya, Mogaji Ajomu, Okose, and Omode among other places. He embarked on the yearly grading of the Alaya Agbada to ease transportation problems in the areas. These are sustainable projects that are still effectively in use and widely appreciated by sons and daughters, as well as residents of the hosting communities. 

Even the Ilorin South Secretariat where he boastfully made the jibes was completed by Hon. Wahab Oladimeji Issa. Well, he may know, because he has little knowledge of happenings in Ilorin South Local Government, despite being a federal lawmaker representing the constituency.  

What’s more, over the past three and half years, Olododo has been utterly impervious to voices of reason and wisdom. He's blinded by the cheap empowerment programs that only enriched selected party men and women. The result is a dysfunctional representation, a fractured society beset by widespread poverty, debilitating insecurity and, inevitably, massive distrust of his candidacy; something that has kept running helter-skelter since Hon. Wahab Issa secured the ticket. The PDP House of Reps candidate facilitated more than 11 federal jobs for his constituents in Ibagun ward where Hon. Cook hailed from - more than the totality (11) that the incumbent who is seeking reelection has been able to achieve for close to four years. 

Hon. Cook's statement is not only a sign that he's threatened by the overwhelming acceptance of his counterpart in the PDP, but also a manifestation that increases Hon. Wahab Issa's chances of seamlessly winning the forthcoming election. We have the facts and figures, just like Hon. Cook, who has made the internet his archive for the 11 federal jobs he facilitated in almost four years. We are prepared to constructively counter his allegations as he continued to fabricate lies to lure the people of the constituency into selling their birthrights for a mess of porridge. 

And of course to sustain our gains, Hon. Abdulwahab Oladimeji Issa is not resting on his oars but is committed to continuing to provide the dividends of democracy to his people whenever he is privileged to represent them. His performances shall continue to outshine his counterparts to serve, first, as a wake-up call for his opponents who seem to be taking its victory at the federal constituency for granted. 

He keeps waxing stronger!

SIGNED

Aliu Ahmad Gold

Head of Abdulwahab Oladimeji Issa Media Office.