By Dapo Fashola
Politics, they say is a dirty game, some call it a devilish game, some even said it is full of character assassination and campaign of calumny.
These assertions are not what politics is really about, but some bad eggs in politics, some ‘do or die’ politicians and some ‘bad belles’ are the ones who injected dirtiness into politics.
Their reason(s) for choosing character assassination as a job is not known to me, but it cannot be farfetched from selfish interest and attempt to get power at all cost.
Many of them have forgotten that power belongs to God and that He is the only one who gives power to anybody at any time.
Some “do or die’ politicians, political jobbers in Ogun West have been going about with rumors, lies and of course character assassination just to blackmail the hope of the hopeless, the liberator, the only acceptable aspirant for Ogun West Senatorial seat in 2023, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, who is popularly known as Yayi for not being a son of the soil.
Some of them alleged that Yayi is not from Ogun West, they said he is from Ekiti State and that he has returned to Ekiti.
At some point, they even said that he did not know his ancestral home.
My people, how can you expect a 52-year-old man not to know his ancestral home in this modern world, it is not possible.
For this blatant lie, I took a journey down to Ekiti State in 2016 funded by a three times Governorship candidate to find out if truly Yayi is from that state.
Having got to Ekiti, I met with different people in the state. The APC youth leader from Igede Ekiti was the one who took me round the state.
He took me to opinion leaders, traditional leaders and of course, political leaders. I questioned them about the man Yayi, I asked them what they know about him and if truly he is from Ekiti State.
A whole lot of them said they know him as a senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District, they said he has no root whatsoever in Ekiti state and some said he is a popular politician from Lagos.
I also had an interactive session with some youth leaders in the state who categorically told me that Yayi is not from Ekiti state.
When I was speaking with a particular youth leader, he said: “Yayi is not one of us in Ekiti, he has no root here, we don’t even know his father to be an Ekiti man, we don’t know any of his family members from Ekiti.
“I know so much about people in this state and so far I can confirm to you that Yayi is not from Ekiti State and he has no family there.
“If you see anyone who is a member of his family in this state, maybe such a person is here for business. Truly, I know Yayi to be a politician and he is contesting as a senator in Ogun West. So, I think he is an Ogun State indigene.”
If truly Yayi is from Ekiti State, will such people who I met deny him? Will you expect them not to have said the truth if he is from Ekiti? In fact, if he is from Ekiti State it would not have taken much time to know since all these days.
I was not satisfied enough, I took my fact-finding mission to Alimosho Local Government in Lagos state; I met with a Yewa man who lives in Lagos, he took me to Abesan Estate in the local government, where I met one Mrs Esther Akinfala, Mr Ayoola Oluajo, the present Executive Vice Chairman of Abeokuta North Local Government and Mr Oludokun.
All these people told me about Yayi and his ancestral home.
They told me that Yayi has been with them as a member of an association for Yewa indigenes called “Yewa Progressive Union” since 1999.
“When he was an accountant with the Guardian newspaper, He has been a member of Yewa Progressive Union since 1999.
“In those days, he had not joined politics in Lagos or Ogun, he did not even have an ambition of becoming anything in Ogun State then. He had been a supportive and committed member of that association,” they said.
After many findings from Ekiti state and Lagos State, I took time to know about the man called Yayi from Ilaro. I questioned thinkers and some people in the area about the man Yayi and no single person denied that he is a son of the soil, I was amazed.
I thought some people were only telling me what they did not know until the paramount ruler of Ilaro and Olu of Ilaro, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle openly said that Yayi is a son of Ilaro.
The paramount ruler made this known during Oronna Day festival, an annual festival in Ilaro which took place in the city on November 18, 2017.
The programme was attended by the state governor, Senatoe Ibikunle Amosun, who was represented by the then Secretary to the State Government, Barr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, some traditional rulers from Ogun West, government functionaries and as well sons and daughters of Ilaro both home and abroad including Yayi himself.
The respected Oba did not hide his feelings when he said Yayi is his ‘son’ and that he is a true son of the soil from Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government in Ogun State.
The respected Oba is a bigwig in Ilaro and of course in the whole of Yewa land who has concrete information and evidence about indigent of the town/region.
He cannot stoop so low to join some politicians in peddling lies and distorting history.
Oba Olugbenle is a top class Oba in Ogun State and you would not have expected the Oba not to say the truth.
Oba Olugbenle has never been in politics and he is not a politician so you would not expect him to play politics with politicians by distorting history or peddling lies.
The Olu of Ilaro has cleared the air enough for doubting Thomases, when he confirmed to the good people of Ogun State that Yayi is from Ilaro in Yewa South.
After gathering all these information about the ancestral home of Yayi, I then wonder why some people will be linking with to Ekiti State.
The facts and figures on ground do not portray Yayi to be from Ekiti State.
It is only rumour mongers, lies peddlers and character assassinators who are hell bent on getting power or holding on to power at all cost that will claim Yayi is from Ekiti State.
It will be mere pettiness, character assassination, campaign of calumny and political jobbery if some people still doubt or are still going about with false information about the ancestral home of Yayi.
Our politics in Ogun State should have grown beyond this level. We should have done away with pettiness and campaign of calumny aimed at spoiling the image of one aspirant or the other.
I think the political weight, grassroots appeal and street credibility of the man Yayi is what has been intimidating some politicians.
That is why they decided to dent the good image of the gentleman.
The man Yayi has traversed the length and breadth of Ogun West, he has made consultations across the five local governments in Ogun west and he is still making consultations across Ogun West on his political ambition to contest in 2023.
The political weight of Yayi in Ogun West is second to none, he has been on ground for many years in the politics of the area and Ogun State.
Kindly have a deep insight into his family background.
The true origin of Yayi
An embodiment of humility, hard work and humanitarianism, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola was born on August 10, 1969 into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Adeola Ogunleye.
He is an indigene of Ago-Isaga, Pahayi, of Agbole Onibata, Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government, Ogun State.
Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola’s father; Mr. Ayinde Adeola Ogunleye and mother, Madam Ogunleye Olasunbo Oluwaseun (Nee Akinola), are from Yewa South and Abeokuta South Local Government Areas of Ogun State respectively.
His Yewa lineage is as current as in the third paternal ancestral origin from the Agbole Onibata, Ago-Ishaga, Pahayi in Ilaro.
He is the fourth son of Ayinde Adeola Ogunleye, grandson to Ogundimu Sangoloni, and great grandson to Olege (third ancestral father).
Ogundimu Sangoloni married two wives, Atikekerewoba Alake and Alaba as first and second wives respectively.
Alaba, who hailed from Agbole Alapapo of Joga-Orile, Yewa North LGA of Ogun State, gave birth to only one child; ayinde Adeola Ogunleye.
A sizeable number of the evolved families are till today settled at Ago-Isaga, Pahayi, in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Governemnt Area of Ogun State, involved in primary occupations like farming, trading etc.
According to Chief Micheal Adelani Ogundimu, the head of the Ogundimu family in Ago-Isaga, Pahayi, Ilaro “In 1862, a civil strife led to the collapse of the then Isaga Orile where every member of the community had to flee from the place to find refuge elsewhere.
“Our grandparents found themselves first in Ago Isaga in Ilaro and later migrated to Pahayi. Pahayi is about a kilometer away from Ilaro then, but civilization and development has led to the merging of the two communities and that led to the disappearance boundaries,” he said.
He observed that the three Isaga men that settled at Pahayi were Olege, Akanni and Akinola, are of the same parents.
Olege later got married to an indigene of Ilaro in the person of Wumiloju (nee) Akande.
Wunmiloju gave birth to Shangoade, Motawe and Ogundimu. Ogundimu gave birth to Ogunleye and five other children.
Ogunleye is the father of Senator Yayi.
He went further to state that “The 1862 war scattered the Isaga people even up to the Republic of Benin.
“There is Iju-Ishaga and Ishaga Surulere in Lagos State and Ishaga Oke Odan in Idiroko and in many other places.”
Senator Adeola was the Chairman of year 2015 Isaga Day celebration. The celebration is an avenue for all Isaga sons and daughters to meet and interact.
Senator Adeola’s immediate maternal lineage is of a very Egba origin, being born in Madam Abeeni Olasunbo Oluwaseun of the highly respected Akinola family.
His maternal grandfather, Pa Akinola Julius Sodipo (a.k.a. Baba Pupa) of the Kilaso compound in Kenta Odutolu, Abeokuta South Local Government Area, was widely respected as a very disciplined man who lived for over 115 years and was a successful farmer and trader with exceptional leadership qualities.
Verifiable historical evidence revealed that his mother’s paternal grandparents were from Itoku before arriving Kenta in the present day Abeokuta South Local Governemnt Area of Ogun State.
His mother’s grandfather, Nofiu Odu gave birth to Julius Akinola Sodipo, Madam Abeeni Olasunbo Oluwaseun (Yayi’s mother).
The famly’s farmland is in Asu, in Kobape Area of Obafemi Owode LGA, also in Ogun State. asu is the District hub for seven other settlements, while Kobape is sited within a Local Government Development Area Council.
Madam Abeeni Olasunbo grew up in Ikija, also in Abeokuta South LGA.
Madam Olasunbo’s maternal root is in Olorunda, near Imala Village on the way to Ilaro.
During her life time, Madam Abeeni Olasunbo was an active and prominent member of Egbe Alaro Cloth Dealers in the famous Itoku market, Abeokuta.
From the above narratives, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola is evidently rooted in both Yewa and Egba lineage of Ogun State.
Dapo Fashola
President Yewa Youth Pacesetters(Y.Y.P).
