By ISMAN ABUBAKAR

Amid the scramble for the tickets of the political parties ahead of the 2011 polls, each of the states has its own dynamics. It is this dynamism that will decide the political direction and the fate of aspirants come next year. In Kwara State, former Senate leader and political heavyweight, Dr. Olusola Saraki, endorsed Senator Gbemisola Rukayyah Saraki as the preferred candidate for the Government House in Ilorin.

Although, Gbemi is the daughter of Dr. Saraki, her endorsement followed the clamour by a large segment of the state for her to replace her brother, Governor Bukola Saraki, as the number one citizen at the Ilorin Government House.

Indeed, various groups, made up of women and youths, have been clamouring and calling on the senator to join the governorship race. These groups in drumming support for Senator Gbemisola came up with various slogans such as, “We are proud of you, Gbemisola Hope 2011”; “1st female governor in Nigeria”; “A call to serve!”; “Here we stand: Join us to produce Nigeria’s first female governor”; “Yes we can”; and “Who says a woman cannot do better?”, among others.

The endorsement, which took place at the Great Hall in the Olorunsogo area of Ilorin, was attended by a large crowd of party supporters. Speaking at the occasion, the former Senate leader said he was only responding to the wishes of the people by the endorsement, even as he noted that with the level of development attained in the state in the last seven and half years, a capable hand is needed to propel the state further in its quest for further development.

Emphasizing the need for continuity in the state, Dr. Saraki told the mammoth gathering that the, senator who is currently representing Kwara Central Senatorial District in the Senate, is in a better position to continue with some of the good works and policies of the current government headed by her elder brother.

He also allayed the fears of other contenders to the coveted position, claiming that the endorsement is not an automatic ticket for his daughter as a level playing ground would be provided for all the aspirants.

However, the endorsement did not go unchallenged as the ruling PDP kicked against the idea. The party, in a statement signed by its state publicity secretary, Alhaji Isiaka Danmaironu, said the leadership was not privy to the move.

Although, Danmaironu said the party intends to provide a level playing ground for all aspirants with a view to ensuring that the best and most popular candidate emerges for the election, his position was countered by the chairman of the party, Alhaji Yusuf Ayedun, who, while speaking through assistant publicity secretary, Hajia Aishat Ibrahim, maintained that the endorsement is in line with the wishes of majority of members of the party in the state.

“We observed with great delight and satisfaction that the endorsement of GRS was not only witnessed by mammoth crowd of PDP party faithful, gentlemen of the press, party stalwarts and elders .Other attendees include two members of BOT of our party, two distinguished senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, five members of the Federal House of Representatives, eighteen members of the Kwara State House of Assembly, fourteen local government council chairmen, traditional rulers, religious leaders, various political associations, youth organisations and student body”, the party said.

Unbiased observers of Kwara politics will agree that in the state today, Gbemi is the person to beat. Her grassroots brand of politics has endeared her to a large number of people not only in her senatorial district, but across the state. The clamour for her to vie for the plum job has been on for a while now. Save for opposition from a small group of the elites in the state and some religious bigot who base their own opposition on non existent Islamic doctrine, the majority of the people in the state are in support of – the senator becoming the first woman to occupy the position of the governor of a state.

This support may not be unconnected with her performance in public office, first as a member of the House of Representatives and a two-time senator. In her eleven and half years as a lawmaker, she has made immeasurable contribution to her people, ensuring that the electorate benefit from whatever must have accrued to her as their representative. This can be seen in the area of constituency projects, scholarship to students, employment opportunities, empowerment and philanthropic gestures, religious sponsorships, among others.

The senator’s constituency projects executed between 2003 to date include the sinking of 29 wells, motorized and hand pump boreholes, construction of blocks of classrooms, VIP toilets, supply of furniture, textbooks and writing materials and the supply of medical equipment among others.

In the same vein, she has through the ‘HAVE FOUNDATION’, which she registered to reach out to the poor, empowered many people in her constituency. HAVE, which means Hope and Vision for Ilorin Emirate, has been giving financial support to the needy. She has also purchased tractors with implements to assist rural farmers in land cultivation.

In the area of religion, many Muslims and Christians have benefitted from the senator’s gesture with sponsorship to Mecca and Jerusalem.

One area where Senator Saraki has had big impact on the lives of her people is education. To help indigent students, the lawmaker has since 2003 been awarding scholarships to many of them to further their education.

Gbemi Saraki’s pedigree as a banker with the knowledge of how the private sector works and a federal lawmaker is an unbeatable record in the quest for a new helmsman in Kwara State come 2011.
It will also be wrong to see her adoption as an extension of the Saraki political dynasty. T

he basic question should be not who she is, but whether she has the requisite qualification to vie for the office. True, her father has been the dominant political figure in the state since the second republic, but the fact remains that this would not have been so if the elder statesman has failed the people. Before anointing his son as the governor in 2003, Dr. Saraki had single handedly installed all the past governors in the state. Critics owe it a duty to assess the performance of these governors and Governor Bukola Saraki in arriving at whether the choice made in 2003 was in the right direction.

In all, the choice of who leads Kwara post Bukola Saraki is that of the people of the state and, in democracy, the people have the last say.

* Abubakar is of plot 1229, Oka Akoko Street, Abuja.