By Mumini AbdulKareem
For Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the immediate past chairman of the National Assembly and President of the 8th Senate, his last birthday celebration, the 58th in the series, which coincided with a period of sober reflection in the country, came with mix feelings no doubt.
While preparation was in top gear to mark the auspicious occasion, the news of his in-law, …, Ojora hit the air waves and while the family was still trying to get over that, the report of shocking demise of another top member of his political family and the recently posted Commissioner of Police to Cross River, Lanre Jimoh shocked the people of the state.
As typical of Saraki and in order to mourn and sympathize with the deceased, their families and relations which included himself, the prayer for his birthday anniversary was called in Ilorin. But away from the period of mourning that has hit Saraki and the members of the dynasty, Saraki’s 58th anniversary is a period of reflection and stocktaking that has shown how Almighty Allah has favoured him to become one of the respected and influential politicians the country has ever produced here in Nigeria and among the international communities.
It was John Quincy Adams, an American statesman and the sixth President of the United States of America who summed up the qualities that a god leader should possessed when he came up with this famous quote that “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are leader.”
With recent events viz how Bukola Saraki has fared in and out of power that such description was a fitting climax to the leadership style and qualities of the former Senate President and scion of the late strongman of Kwara Politics, Dr Olusola Saraki.
Like his late father, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, the London trained medical doctor turned politician had bestrode Nigerian political landscape, welding much influence.
His father dominated the Nigeria Second Republic when he was Senate Leader and was believed to be the best Senate Leader ever, owing to his parliamentary dexterity. Oloye, as fondly called by his political associate, admirers and followers held firmly the control of Kwara politics for over four decades.
Saraki, the son, however, took over the political leadership from his father having served as a two-time governor of the state. As the governor, he embarked in an audacious transformation of Kwara State from being a civil service state to an industrialised one; a development which earned him the “Emerging Tiger Award”, Best Governor of The Year Award in far away South Africa especially with his initiative on the Zimbabwean famers among other awards.
Upon completion of his two-term in 2011, Saraki led his former party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to an overwhelming victory in the governorship election when he featured the immediate past governor, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, who was Commissioner for Finance in his cabinet, as candidate.
When there was crisis in PDP, Saraki who represents Kwara Central at the Upper Chamber of National Assembly, led the former governor, two senators (including himself), six members of House of Representatives, 22 members of the State House of Assembly, 16 Local Government Chairmen and all 193 ward councillors in the state to be part of the large house of the then Nigerian’s main opposition party- All Progressives Congress (APC) which ultimately produced President Muhammadu Buhari.
Typical of his trial blazing instinct and character, Saraki ditched his presidential bid to ensure a rancour-free primary with the APC then in a move he called “personal sacrifice to salvage the party.” Then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal toed the path when he announced the withdrawal of his presidential ambition “in the interest of the party.” The two of them were also involved in the presidential primary of the PDP that produced Buhari. Despite Saraki’s political disposition, he has been able and one of the few in the country that is highly courted by political leaders across board all over the country and one of the most detribalized Nigerians today because of his cosmopolitan outlooks of the country and its people.
His novel sacrifice contributed immensely to the peaceful APC presidential primary which had produced General Muhammadu Buhari as the flagbearer then in a primary that was described “most credible and transparent primary election in the Nigerian history” by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who lost at the election,
He subsequently went ahead to emerge as the Senate President and Chairman of the last national assembly becoming a trailblazer as the first Muslim in the country to achieve such feat. He also went ahead to leave the best legacy for country in the areas of representation and impactful bills that addressed fundamental issues of economy, oil and gas, politics and religion among others. Today in the country, his leadership of the last senate has become a reference point and benchmark for others to come which has brought and continued to attract infrastructural developments to the state from the federal level. His disposition after he lost the last presidential bid went ahead to give the PDP the impetus, political vibe and swag to continue to play its role as a formidable opposition party in the country that believed it has the alternative template to rescue the country from its present state.
Then during the run up to the 2019 election when some leaders of the APC who antagonized his emergence as Senate President unleashed the EFCC and deployed other flagrant constitutional abuse to persecute his, Saraki used the instrumentality of the court to seek justice and later quit the party to return to the PDP where he contested for the highest seat in the country to be the president in 2019. Although, the ambition didn’t materialize, Saraki again blazed the trail by calling for the unity of the party against the president leadership to rescue the country. Subsequently, he was appointed National Leader of the PDP and although he and the party lost at the state and federal levels, Saraki reaction to the setback was another trail blazing effort that is uncommon with Nigeria’s leaders and politicians after they lost power.
Back home in the state, Saraki despite him and the dynasty losing the political grip at all levels nevertheless rallied support for his political opponents and incitement Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and prevailed upon his supporters and party members to drop any litigation on the matter despite having a veritable ground to do so.
According to him, such action will not only allow the new government to focus without having any political distraction to contend with, it will also afford the people of the state who have been at the centre of his welfarist policies, the opportunity to compare and contrast and informed about the choices they prefer going forward in the political, economic, social and religious developments of the state.
Over the years, Saraki popularly called ‘Leader’ by political followers has been able to sustain and improve on his father’s political dynasty being the scion of the family. He has also upheld the consensus politics inherited from his father school of thought and went ahead to digitalized it in adaptation to the modern trends in governance. Furthermore, the inherited Oloye philanthropic gesture has witnessed sheer improvement since Saraki the son took over.
For many of his followers and supporters, the best is yet to come for Saraki who has been beckoned upon by his colleagues at the national assembly then and other leaders across the country to contest again for the office of the President of the country because of the capacity, tenacity of purpose, boldness and capability to run Nigeria successfully with novel ideas which he has demonstrated in other various positions of authorities that have been entrusted on him before. And this birthday, coming on the heels of a much anticipated reunion with his younger sibling and Minster of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Ruqqayah Saraki, the history books no doubt still hold many aces for the one that is known among his admirers as politically sagacious who has digitalized the fortunes of his inherited dynasty.
Born on 19, December 1962, Saraki, the immediate past Senate President marked his 58th birthday on Saturday.
Saraki was educated in both Nigeria and the UK, qualified and practiced as a medical doctor at Rush Green Hospital in London. He was appointed as Special Assistant to the President on Budget in 2000 where he was responsible for preparing the 2000/2001 National Budget. Saraki equally initiated the Fiscal Responsibility Bill and served on the Economic Policy Co-ordination Committee, where he was responsible for the formulation and implementation of key economic policies for Nigeria.
He was elected and sworn into office in 2003. Saraki was re-elected in 2007 general election for second term in office and was the first Nigerian Governor to be awarded the National Honor of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). He was conferred and turbaned as a nobleman of high rank with a traditional title of Turaki of Ilorin Emirate which has since been elevated to the post of the Waziri by the Emir of Ilorin following in the footsteps of his late family who he also emulated in philanthropy and welfarist activities.
Among other awards are; ‘Governor of the Year’ by This Day Newspapers (2004); ‘Best Governor of the Year in Agricultural Development 2004/05’ by City People, KSNG; Leadership Award in appreciation of commitments and outstanding leadership qualities (2005); Harvard Business School Africa Club Award 2005; Kenneth Kaunda Foundation Best Governor in Africa 2006; Osun State Broadcast Corporation Man of the Year 2006; ‘African Governor of the Year in Agricultural Development’ by African Union Media Group in Pretoria, South Africa; Nigeria Referee Association Grand Patron 2007; This Day Newspaper Best Governor on Food Security 2008 among others.
