SINCE the inception of democratic rule in the country, the yearning and aspiration of Nigerians have been largely to have good governance in place, so that the country can attain a greater height in very due course. Part of this is having quality representation, which can only be delivered by men and women elected as lawmakers into the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly in the 36 states of the federation, among others.But the journey so far has not given any cheering news. Good governance is far from being realised although attainable. Only a few individuals can be pointed at as having delivered quality representation to the people who voted them into office. And where such occurs, such individuals have tended to beat peoples imagination, and in the process win their admiration.Honourable Oluwole Oke, representing Ijesa North Federal Constituency of Osun State in the House of Representatives, is a ready example that easily comes to mind. Oke, who is chairman, Committee on Defence, is a lawmaker whose image towers above many of his peers, in terms of contributions to the immediate constituency he represents and the nation at large.He was first elected into the National Assembly in 2003 and got re-elected in 2007 for a second term of office. But he has not looked back since his first day in the hallowed chamber of the 360-member House of Representatives, as he made his presence felt. Making ones presence felt and having direct positive impact on the affairs of the parliament, the government, the nation and the citizenry is no mean feat. For Honourable Oke, the philosophy seems to have been that the size of office one occupies should not be an inhibiting factor for performance, especially for those who always give excuses that they were limited on performance because they were just elected to make laws for the country.Oke is highly focussed and determined to prove a point that an elected representative is a privileged individual selected from among his people to be their eye and nose, and must not toy with the confidence reposed in him. He must prove to be a worthy representative, who will always be ready to make himself available to his people for quality representation and service at any given time and place.And by providence, the 43 year-old Oke, who is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, is not new to selfless service to grow his community and his people. Even right from his days as an undergraduate, he was used to giving some sort of scholarships to indigent students in Esa-Oke, his hometown especially.His love for education and the need for others to acquire such as a veritable weapon to fight poverty has not waned. Today, he is being reported to be currently responsible for payment of school fees of about 513 undergraduate students from his constituency in various higher institutions of learning in the country. He has also given book subsidy allowance to some students to the tune of millions of naira at an event which held at the Ajayi Memorial Hall, Ibokun, recently. These happen to be part of his laudable efforts at liberating the minds of the people, giving them potent tool to chat their own course in life.As a lawmaker of no mean order, he has, within the period of sojourn in the National Assembly, been able to attract federal presence to Ijesa North Federal Constituency, comprising Obokun and Oriade local government areas.Today, the Ijesa North Federal Constituency of Osun State is proud to have a Military Training College and a Federal College of Education, which were facilitated by Honourable Oluwole Oke. No doubt, these two projects have a lot of benefits in terms of employment generation and socio-economic advancement of the area, among others.The poverty alleviation programmes undertaken by Honourable Oke lives in the hearts of the beneficiaries, even with positive impact on the well-being of the people and the constituency in general. For instance, on a particular day, as he used to do on yearly basis. It is on record that Oke rolled out tens of motorcycles, hundreds of small generating sets, clippers, dryers for hairdressing salons and cash as take-off grants, worth millions of naira.Transportation was a major problem in Dagbaja, a community in Oriade Local Government Area and Iketewi in Obokun Local Government Area, where people used to spend up to five hours at motor parks before they could get to the headquarters of the two local government areas constituting Ijesa Federal Constituency of Osun State. He would not allow his people to live in penury. He provided vehicles to people to enable them operate as transporters in the area and the problem was overcome.Oluwole Oke loves his people very passionately, just as he loves the traditional rulers and institution they represent. He is very humble, respectful and diligent in spite of being wealthy. It has often been said that were Osun State blessed to have a few Okes in office, nobody would be complaining about lack of good governance and quality representation. Oke, who is gunning for a third term bid, is flying the flag of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturdays National Assembly election. Will he be voted again based on his record of performance as attested to even by the people of his constituency But if he wins, he will be a cognate member, who could have better opportunity to occupy more prominent position in the leadership of the House of Representatives.Badmus is on the staff of the Nigerian Tribune.
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