ILORIN, the Kwara State capital, is somewhat home to me in the sense that the University of Ilorin is my alma-mater and I still relish those good, old days in school. And even though I am not an indigene, I unilaterally awarded myself indigene-ship of Kwara State.

I have shuttled back and forth the state for the past 10 years since graduation and to an extent, I have witnessed the transformation of the city into its present cosmopolitan status under the watch of Dr. Bukola Saraki.

But I was pleasantly surprised on the day Saraki handed over the reins of government to Alhaji Abdul-Fatah Ahmed, the new Governor of Kwara State. The day was May 29, 2011 and I gasped for breath right from the airport on my way to the rejuvenated Kwara Hotels, my preferred place of abode anytime I visited.

Tunde, my bosom friend and classmate, was, as usual, already waiting for me at the lobby of the hotel and I must confess that with the level of activities in the city of Ilorin, I had to call Tunde to come to my rescue for fear of falling victim to the usual political rallies prevalent in the country.

From the airport to every nook and cranny of Ilorin, there was a mammoth crowd: Okada riders were at their best in acrobatic displays; taxis and private vehicles filled the air with joyous blares of their horns; women were singing praises and youths were bustling with life and infectious energy. In the midst of the drama, I anticipated a breakdown of law and order and I was quick to tell the taxi driver to return to the airport where I was sure of safety.

But he smiled and said: “Oga, no problem na Saraki dey go Abuja after him handover, na him people no want am to go because we like am well well.” That was when it occurred to me that the tenure of Bukola Saraki had ended as the Governor of Kwara State and he was on his way out of town to allow the new Governor take charge.

But why would the majority of the people not want him to “go” as the taxi driver said? Some incentive must have changed hands, I reasoned. But I was wrong. There was no way the uncountable number of people would have been gratified.In fairness, with what I experienced, Bukola Saraki is indeed loved by the people of Kwara State to warrant such display of affection. I was deep in thoughts and savoring the excitement in the air too until Tunde’s call interrupted my thought process.

“Where are you now?” I told him I was still in traffic. He advised that I alight from the taxi and make do with any alternative means as the “celebrant’s” convoy is stuck too. Celebrant! Tunde who is celebrating? I asked and all he managed to utter was: The “Governor Emeritus”.My phone rang and it was Tunde again. “Go back to the airport, I will join you there,” he said. I heeded his advice. It was such a herculean task getting back to the airport. Eventually I got there.

From my vantage position, I could feel the tempo and emotion of the crowd for a couple of reasons. One was that the composition of the crowd cuts across sex, religion, tribe and age group and the other reason was their mien.I dare say that it was such an emotional day for the people of Kwara State and indeed inhabitants of Ilorin with my findings because I was “caught in the middle” and I moved round systematically talking to people and gauging their mood at the same time.

It was such an awesome show of love by the people to Saraki. But there was an interesting scenario.Curiously, I looked towards the gate and saw a young man presumably in his early ’30s holding a gift and swiftly I moved towards him. I was somewhat careful to be able to get reasonable information from him, as he looked very sober and fixed his gaze at the convoy approaching the airport gate. “Brother, I hope the gift is meant for me oh,” I chuckled. He smiled in return and I was glad.

“The gift is meant for our Governor and I wish I can have the opportunity to present it to him,” he replied. We conversed and exchanged thoughts on why there was such a huge crowd at the airport and all over Ilorin town given that Saraki was leaving after completing his tenure as governor, which was normal and I was astonished at what I realised.

The venue of the handover ceremony was the newly constructed Metropolitan Square, one of the “signatures” of Saraki’s administration.

The people were amazed with the way Saraki comported himself from the beginning of the ceremony to the end. And very unlike the norm, I was also told by my new friend who was at the Metropolitan Square, that after Saraki handed over and was about to leave the venue, the official car of the Governor of Kwara State, with all the flags and emblem that brought Saraki to the venue, was the same car that the newly sworn-in governor drove out with from the venue.

And Bukola Saraki drove in his private car with his wife who could not control her emotions with the way the crowd constantly applauded her husband.From the Metropolitan Square venue, it was such a herculean task for the private car of Saraki to wade through. My friend volunteered that with the huge crowd, he felt the best place to present his gift would be at the airport.

But he was dead wrong because in his opinion, the crowd waiting for Saraki at the airport was far larger than the one at the Metropolitan Square and Presidential Lodge where he stopped to wait for his flight. As unbelievable as  it sounds, tears flowed freely from almost all present, especially women. The message here is that indeed Bukola Saraki is and remains the man of the people of Kwara State.

Mr. YAHAYA ETILA, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abeokuta, Ogun State.