Asudemade: Bad Marketer Of A Defective Product-Group
The Ibadan North East Office of Providence Coalition, a political group committed to integrity in politics and good governance, has berated one Maroof Asudemade over his article entitled: “Misfortunes of Senatorial Representation in Oyo South: KK-D to the Rescue” published on an online media platform, Oyo Insight, on December 29, 2021 and aimed at rubbishing the good works and lofty achievements of the senator from Oyo South Senatorial District, Senator (Dr) Kola Balogun.
In a press statement signed by the group’s coordinator, Prince Muji Armstrong-Bello and made available to newsmen in Ibadan, the coalition described the write-up as hollow, jaundiced and lacking in substance.
According to the statement, Asudemade cut the picture of a pitiable and confused writer, who was struggling in vain to use ‘naira to collect dollars’ from unsuspecting residents of Oyo South, while employing blatant lies and barefaced falsehood all in an attempt to project and sell a defective product in the person of one Kolapo Kola-Daisi.
The coordinator observed that Asudemade offended the sensibilities of the people of Oyo South Senatorial District- the most populated, most cosmopolitan, most strategic and most industrialised to think what is required to be a representative of the district are mere family connection to royalty and opportunity to study abroad.
The statement noted that no amount of hatchet jobs can make the good people of the district shift their allegiance and support for Senator Balogun, who has brought dividends of democracy to their doorsteps to the APC senatorial aspirant, who has no clear-cut personal identity and prerequisite track record of democratic disposition or people-oriented inclinations for such an important national assignment
According to the statement, neither Kola-Daisi nor his image-maker is abreast with the reality that Nigeria is fast moving towards meritocracy, therefore the destiny of an important senatorial district such as Oyo South, which houses some of the nation’s foremost institutions and most prominent commercial centres in the state, cannot be left in the hands of a mediocre.
It further stated that there is no gainsaying that Senator Kola Balogun, in two and a half years as senator, has performed creditably well and stands shoulder high far and above his predecessors and his colleagues from Oyo State, a feat which has won him accolades and awards of Best Senator of the Year 2021 by South West Alert Magazine; Most Distinguished Ibadan Indigene 2021 by the prestigious and famous Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII); Award of Excellence by Ibadan Joint Traders Association; and Award of Excellence by Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, among many others.
“It is laughable when the writer said Oyo South is ‘as good as not being represented at all at the National Assembly’ even when it is on record that immediately the ninth Assembly was inaugurated, Senator Kola Balogun hit the ground running when he presented his first bill for the resuscitation and upgrade of Ibadan Airport to international status to open up Ibadan and the entire South West for economic prosperity, even though the airport is located in Oyo Central which is represented by a third term senator who feels unconcerned or probably had gone to sleep.
“Senator Balogun did not just earn the appellation of Amotekun Senator. It was as a result of his unrelenting and staunch support for the South West Security Network in the face of stiff opposition by the APC- led Federal Government supported by the two other senators from Oyo. These senators failed to stand up for their people at that critical time due to their parochial and selfish interest.
“Before they all bowed to pressure, Senator Balogun was among the few courageous senators, who voted in support of electronic transmission of election results as a way of giving credibility to the electoral process and ultimately deepening the nation’s democratic system.
“His two other senator-colleagues from the state, Senators Abdulfatai Buhari and Teslim Folarin, did not make themselves available to vote in support of what the Nigerian masses wanted.
“In his engagements with the leadership of government agencies, ministries and departments during his oversight functions, Senator Balogun displayed uncommon courage and forthrightness mincing no words in making his observations known in areas where these organisations had fallen short of expectation.
“A case that readily comes to mind was his query to the claim by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council that for about 40 years of its establishment, the only research they have been able to conduct is on Kilishi, a local Hausa delicacy.
“Before now the people of the district went about their businesses as if they had no representative at the Senate because those they voted for to represent them at the National Assembly turned themselves to demi-gods and treated the electorate as beggars and outcasts only to return four years after to profusely beg for their votes. But what is the situation today?
“For the first time, the people have the feeling of being represented having enjoyed several agricultural vocational trainings at Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Moor Plantation, Ibadan, through which thousands of unemployed youths have become farmers and are now earning a living for themselves.
“The senator also facilitated over N400 million NIRSAL COVID-19 loan for businessmen and traders to ameliorate the effect of the pandemic, aside cash grants ranging between N30,000 and N100,000 to artisans, market men and women across the nine local governments that make up the district. Widows, the disabled, women and other underprivileged persons have had a new lease of life since the coming of the incumbent senator.
“All over the district, transformers and solar lights are being installed while the University of Ibadan and the University College Hospital now have dedicated power lines courtesy of the distinguished senator. This is aside numerous other infrastructural amenities he facilitated,” the statement said.
Armstrong-Bello noted that if Maroof Asudemade and Kolapo Kola-Daisi claim they don’t know anything about these giant and landmark strides of Senator Kola Balogun, then one can safely conclude that they are completely cut off from the reality.
