Sentiments have continued to surface within Kwara South political landscape regarding the legacies of late Senator Rafiu Ibrahim as a representative of the distrust at the Nigerian Senate and the current performance of serving Senator Lola Ashiru, which has been described as ‘below par’, not minding the fact that he’s a principal officer as the Deputy Senate Leader, one of the highly coveted positions within the National Assembly.
Lamenting the apparent preference for the late senator’s performance over Ashiru, the President General of Orisun Igbomina, Chief Gbenga Awoyale has said his heart bleeds witnessing how Kwara South people has been rating the late Senator Rafiu Ibrahim who served for just 4 years, over incumbent Sen. Ashiru who is currently serving a second term of 4 years at the Nigerian Senate.
Awoyale said this on the sideline of the Fidau prayers for the former Senator of Kwara South, Ibrahim, who died last Thursday after a brief illness. Ibrahim served as Kwara South Senator between 2015-2019, while Ashiru took over from him in 2019 till date, after late Ibrahim lost re-election bid. However, people have continued to rate the late Ibrahim’s performance within 4years above his successor’s who has been in the Senate for almost 5years now.
The heartfelt expression by Awoyale comes as a reflection of the sentiments expressed by residents of Kwara South, who seem to hold late Senator Rafiu Ibrahim in high regard for his past performance and contributions to the region.
Senator Ashiru, feeling the weight of comparison, was urged to take note of these sentiments and work towards enhancing his service delivery to better meet the expectations of his constituents.
“The call for improvement from Senator Ashiru underscores the importance of effective representation and responsive governance in meeting the needs of the people, as constituents continue to evaluate and compare the legacies of past and present senators”
“Yoruba people will say ‘it is the ineptitude of the living that makes us remember the dead. The death of Sen. Rafiu is a lesson to every politician, especially the incumbent Senator Ashiru to sit tight, so that people can have good things to say about him after he leaves that office, because political office is ephemera”, Awoyale said.
“May God rest the soul of Sen. Rafiu in perfect peace. The unfolding development made some of us sober and challenges us as stakeholders to reflect deeply. Not only PDP members are speaking good about Sen. Rafiu, not only Kwara South people but across the State. This is in sharp contrast to the current Senator. If Ashiru can’t match Sen. Rafiu’s standard, he should at least stop working below par.”
It could be recalled that a former Special Assistant on Community Engagement to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Kayode Oyin-Zubair in a series of Facebook post has, since the demise of Sen. Rafiu, also threw subtle jibes perceived to be directed at Sen. Ashiru.
In one of the Facebook post, Oyin-Zubair said “When They Called The Dead The Best Senator Something Must Be Wrong With The Living”.
In another post, the Igbaja born businessman said “When Yoruba Says; Ki Olorun Fi Orun Ke Bale (Chief) Ti Ana Won ToJu Ilu Pupo Loju Bale Ti Oni…
Kini Itumo re?”, meaning “when Yoruba says ‘May God bless the late village head in presence of former village head… what does it mean?”
