By OLU AYELA

The notion that the average politician must be dyed in the hue of opposition and be constantly set in a combative mode against the government at the center as a means of demonstrating one’s love for his kith and kin, especially in the way it is promoted in the South west, is an idea that is repugnant to Hon. Adedayo Adeyeye, the Minister of State for Works.

His distaste for the style of politics of the politicians that people the APC dates back to the period of his romance with opposition politics. Being fully persuaded by the thoughts, writings and actions of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who translated every of his passion into concrete achievement which truly empowered many in the South west, Adeyeye believed that the legacy of the Yoruba elder statesman should be preserved through those of his generation and into the Alliance for Democracy (AD) he stepped to cut his political teeth.

Adeyeye, a pioneer member of the AD when the party swept the polls through the South-west in 1999 general elections, was bubbling with ideas about how the goodwill given to the party could be converted for the good of the present and future generations in the way Awolowo did it in the 1950s but that was not to be as the party had other plans for him.

Although he was better positioned in terms of contributions and popularity in his Ise-Ekiti local government and environs in 1999 and 2003, a grand conspiracy orchestrated by the party big wigs, derailed his aspiration.

It was a lesson he learnt the hard way and he is passionately preaching the gospel to his people in the South-west to remove the veil over their eyes to see the APC which somehow managed to also swindle the AD out of existence as a collection of men and women who play politics devoid of principle and essentially without love for anybody but what they can get.

In 2007, Adeyeye with some like minds formed Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Ekiti State branch. This time, Adeyeye wanted to be governor. He was the most popular choice within the group but fate had a different script for him when another aspirant emerged as the party’s candidate. Out of the ashes of these near misses and the monumental deception, despair and seeming defeat, Adeyeye has emerged as a key member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) even before his current position as the Minister of State for Works. Under his portfolio are projects that can positively impact the region and knowing his commitment to the development of the region, he is leaving no stone unturned to achieve his goals.

He is saddled with the supervision of federal roads in the South-west which includes the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway which is experiencing a new lease of life and for which the Federal Government has received so much applause even from hardened critics of this administration. Other roads covered by his office and slated for repairs are the Oshodi/Apapa Road, the stretch of road from Ibadan through Ile-Ife to Akure down to Owo as well as the Sagamu Ore Road.

Adeyeye has set his mind to use his office for the good of all people from the South-west and there could be no better vehicle than the development and sustenance of road infrastructure in the region to convince his people that the best party to bring dividends of democratization to them is the PDP and not APC. He is urging the people not only to reject them but to also take a step further to disgrace them at the polls come 2015.

For Adeyeye, there is no nobler way to make in-road into the heart and soul of the South-west than to construct roads and bridges which are likely to bring ancillary developmental programmes to the region.

He credits President Goodluck Jonathan whom he described as a true patriot and a democrat as being the force behind the work in his ministry. Adeyeye explained that the president’s passion for the development of Nigeria is legendary. “Now we can see Lagos-Ibadan Expressway constructed 38 years ago being reconstructed, Benin-Ore Road has been made motorable, the Second Niger Bridge is being constructed, East-West Road is being done, construction of Abuja-Lokoja road is going on at a very fast space, Ilesha-Akure road is being reconstructed, rail transportation is being revamped and so much more is going on in every sector due to the vision of the president”.

Projecting into the future, Adeyeye said: “The Yoruba people will be freed from the lord who sees himself as an emperor that must be worshipped. There are some evil forces in this South-west that we must not allow to expand. We know the way they are treating this region as a conquered territory and next year, by the grace of God, we are going to roll them away”.

* Ayela is a Lagos based journalist.