The 10th National Assembly - Ife United Has Much To Gain | By Niyi Murele

Niyi Murele

For a very long time, I have been mentioning that the political landscape of Nigeria will change and there will be emergence of new leaders. I also said many who have led in times past are not going to be leaders of the future in new Nigeria. 

Severally, at every opportunity, l made known to those who care to listen that PMB's role is that of a transition from old to new. For those who can perceive beyond the rasmatas of politics, our current  circumstances and situations are part of the process of birthing a new Nigeria with a brighter future. 

For those clamouring for war, crisis, and collapse of Nigeria because of election outcome, it won't work. Don't be distracted by the noise. The destiny of our nation is settled. Whatever crisis or chaos by men can only work to move the nation towards the settled purpose of God. Nigeria will emerge as the winner as our journey to recovery and global recognition more than ever before is about to commence. 

That brings me to the composition of the tenth assembly and to congratulate the entire Ife Federal constituency once again for returning Hon Ajilesoro to the federal house  representative. The house is usually made of up of 360 members from all federal constituencies. As at today, 326 members have received their certificates of return as members elected by their constituents of which Hon Taofeek Ajilesoro is one of them. The 326 are from six political parties in Nigeria. Never happened before. 

A new third force has truly emerged on our polity - The Labour Party with 34 members in the lower Chambers. However, out of the 326, just a little over 50 are returned for another tenure which is the lowest number of returning representatives since 1999. The rest are new comers and will have to queue in the house because of the strong culture of ranking in NASS. This creates a huge opportunity for our representative in the tenth assembly. 

As a returnee representative, Hon Ajilesoro's experience is of great asset to the house of representatives, to his party and to his constituency. With less returnees in the 10th Assembly, our representative has a great chance of clinching leadership of strategic committee or better still opposition leadership role within the house that will give him national prominence. 

This in turn and in addition  puts him in a position to facilitate major projects for the benefits of the constituency. It's therefore important that the community unite in our quest for development and rally round him to have a successful tenure that will bring tangible dividends back to our community, if truly our primary interest is our community. Politics is about to come to an end for governance to commence.

As a community, we need to come to that reality and begin to strategically position our community for great gains in the next four years. Interestingly, he will be the only elected officer at the federal level for the next four years. To maximise political dividends at the federal level, we must work towards the collaboration of the the elected and the appointed political office holders in our community. 

This is where the duo of Otunba Iyiola Omisore and Senator Babajide Omoworare comes in. Both are currently occupying significant appointed roles in the ruling party. 'Am aware of the  contention of the outcome of presidential election declaring Asiwaju as president elect but from my little research so far, it will be difficult to overturn the outcome. The contenders will struggle to find evidence to support their contentions. Yes, there are glitches but are they strong enough to impact any change to the current outcome? I don't think so, but we leave that to the supreme court. 

However, by constitution and all things being equal, Asiwaju will be sworn in as president of Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 29th of May 2023, God sparing his life. While we are praying for wisdom and strength for Otunba Omisore occupying that powerful role of party's national secretary, 'am also trusting God that Senator Babajide Omoworare will be appointed a new and significant role in Asiwaju's cabinet. 

This will put Ife in a strong position at the federal level. In the spirit of unity for the progress of our community, 'am personally appealing to both Otunba Omisore and Senator Omoworare to please lobby on behalf of Ife at the house of representative to ensure that Hon Ajilesoro is well positioned as a returnee ranking member of the house in terms of house leadership and committee. I know Hon Ajilesoro is in opposition party but this is the real core of "Ife First" because we are all Ife First before member of any political party and our community is crying for this type of collaboration for progress. We are on the right path but we need to manage ourselves very well to maximise potential opportunities within this current political season.

For us as citizens also, to help our elected and appointed political office holders to deliver, we must work towards Ife Master Plan defining our devopmental agenda that is beneficial to the entire community, not just few individuals or groups. Working within master plan helps to measure performance and promote the culture of accountability. With the master plan, our representative can work towards bills in the house that will benefit our community at large. The master plan serves as a point of convergent to all Ife Citizens regardless of political affiliations. 

Finally, while l congratulate Hon Taofeek Ajilesoro once again on his election victory, l strongly advise that his new tenure be invested on legacy projects that will not only be beneficial to the community but will outlast his tenure. The new phase of politics in Nigeria will be characterised by stiff competition and beyond the politics of stomach infrastructure or benefits for few individuals or groups. Strategic legacy projects that no one can argue about is the way to go. I strongly advise him to reach out to his constituents to develop a road map for his new tenure. If need be, build a consultative forum - Ife Federal Constituency Consultative Forum. I believe with the support of technocrats among Ife sons and daughters both home and abroad he can deliver excellent dividends in the next four years. 

With all hands joined together and united in purpose, with strategic planning and collaboration of both elected and appointed politicians, we can fast track our development in the next four years, if we intentionally prioritise our community. That's the way to go. Let's do it. May God grant us Ife of our dreams in Jesus name. Amen.

ARTICLE BY THE SAME AUTHOR: Ife Master Plan: An Essential Tool To Fast Track Ife Development