“All citizens, not only legislators, can influence the political decisions that concern them and can initiate political decisions that can change their lives”. This insightful words excerpted from Bernard Joinet’s quotes on how to entrench popular participation in a liberal democracy , clearly illustrates the power of the constituents members over their elected representatives, particularly, those in the upper chambers. It is suggestive also of the two sides of the coin that democracy represents-as it conves on the political leaders to make their own informed decisions, it also confers on the followership to hold the leaders responsible for any decision , action or inaction that affect them. This, succinctly put, is the beauty of democracy.
In Nigeria, where, the voices of the teeming populace seem to have been muffed by overbearing powers of the constituted authority. It becomes moot to say that our democracy is atrophied. All evidences point into this direction. However, political pundits have always maintained that we will keep firing from the wrong side, if those in leadership position put a tender on the citizens who in actual fact provide a vehicle through which leaders ride to power – a logical contradiction that has reared it’s ugly head to stymie our nascent democracy.
Against this backdrop, Senator Rilwan Adesoji Akanbi representing Oyo South district , has discovered that the only way the party system can be strengthened is for it to be owned by the people. He believes, it is an height of political recklessness for a leader to usurp the rights of the electorates. He chooses to live with his constituents and take up their burdens. This is a duty call that the amiable Senator popularly called SOJ by his teeming admirers, never tarry to pick.
According to Senator Adesoji Akanbi, governance can only become good when it serves common good. Bearing in mind the utilitatarian principle of attending to the immediate needs of the greater number of the people in his constituency and entire OyO state by extension, he has mapped out strategy to bring democracy into the threshold of the citizens. Consequence of this is the way he has been viewed and rightly so as a reinforcing element of the ruling party in Oyo state.
Explainably, through provisions of quality representation at the inner chambers, Senator Adesoji Akanbi has been part of success stories of the key progress made so far by the APC government at both the state and the national level , the most recent being the facilitation of the revamping of the moribund rail system as a means of transportation in Nigeria. Whenever his constituents hear of his exploits in the National Assembly where he pursue with fervour, various bills that mark him out as a true democrat, they are always walking in the air to have made a right choice.
Back home, Senator Adesoji Akanbi is never far away from his people. He opens an open channel and opportunity for his constituents to let out their emotions without any let or hindrance. It’s a common knowledge that he holds court with them to feel their pulses and has never been found wanting in addressing those needs both collective and personal. He is what Dr Keith Jennings has in mind when he posited that “Democracy is not about ego trip, it’s about feeding the people and therefore about development”. Little wonder the People’s champion, Senator Adesoji Akanbi, was recently awarded the best Senator in the entire South West region for having shown more humane disposition to people’s interests via excellent service delivery than any other Senators in the zone.
Also visible to the blind, at the home front, is the valued human asset that Senator Adesoji Akanbi personifies. Littering all the nine local government areas of his constituency are projects that are targeted at improving the living conditions of his people in the areas of health, education, Agriculture, etc. He is also unrelenting in his drive for empowerment for widows the indigent students and general welfare of the people.
Therefore, If no one can contend the fact that, forming the pillars on which democracy rest all over the world are the triads of – stewardship of public funds, compliance with the law and of course the performance of the elected officials to acceptable service delivery, that Senator Adesoji Akanbi score higher than any other senators in the state can’t be equally controverted.
Evidently the mutual trust and confidence inherently shared between Senator Rilwan Adesoji Akanbi is so high that when his name was recently mentioned in the list of defectors in the Senate chamber, his constituents did not credit the story, even before the refutation from the senator himself. The viscera reaction of the people was ” under no circumstances, even unexpected, will our own SOJ takes a serious decision of that magnitude without consorting with us”. They have been proven right.
On this score , when last week, major political stakeholders in Oyo South thronged to the residence of Senator Adesoji Akanbi to implore him to go back to the Senate for a continuation of his ” good work”, only a person with little knowledge of local politics, will not read the handwriting on the wall well, and the ineluctable message jointly chorused by the well meaning stakeholders in Oyo South is. “it’s only in SOJ we trust. He must be given another chance “. The import of such a clear message of “ko si SOJ, ko si ibo” should not be lost on anyone that is desirous of electoral victory for APC in Oyo state.
