OPINION: KOLA BALOGUN TYPICAL CASE OF “EFIKO SENATOR” |ROTIMI JOHNSON OJASOPE

It was the common slang on campus (I don’t know if it is still prevalent) to call the serious students “Efiko” and the unserious ones “Abegi Guys”. The latter are mostly male students while the former is for both male and female. Abegi describes the place of shelter or lounge on campus for the truants. There are peculiarities of both group of students;

Abegi: they don’t attend lectures and the few classes they attend, they are nuisance and distraction to other students. They borrow or steal lecture notes, they use intimidation sometime to accomplish their goals and often have great social life on and off campus. 

Efiko: these ones are the studious, responsible and reliable students. They don’t only attend lectures, they struggle to sit in the front roles, keep up to date lecture notes, minimal extracurricular activities and often more than average in performance. 

Writing about the Efiko nature of Senator Kola Balogun, my former Boss is expedient due to the recent attacks from the followers of the Abegi and would-be Abegi Senators. It is not surprising that they are attacking him; no one attacks inconsequential personality. However, due to the electoral strength of the Oyo South District and the it’s strategic significance in Governorship victory in the state, it becomes very understandable that the office will be consistently under attacks, both from within and outside.

If I wrote this before now, some would likely conclude I am justifying my pay but now that I am no longer on his payroll, I can say categorically (like I often boasted); let anyone with better record of performance in Oyo South present the list of such activities. I do not know of a Senator that is so dedicated to the task of legislature and constituency services. He is punctual at plenary and committee assignments. His midterm scorecard is an attestation to his “Efiko” nature because he works like a German Machine. 

Reading about allegations of non-performance confirms the Abegi nature of the writers and their sponsors because if they are not intellectually lazy, they would have searched for Senator Balogun’s performance first. So, they are either bereft of ideas or lack integrity to have denied something so glaring. In either case, they don’t deserve any mandate, not even councilorship because they can not give what they don’t have. 

I must reiterate the diligence and forthrightness of the only serving PDP Senator in Oyo State because he is not just a PhD holder in Political Science, he has demonstrated beyond reasonable doubts that he understands his job description and up to the task of meeting the expectations of his constituents in terms of dividends of democracy. 

To crown it all, Mr Audacity of Grace has stated severally that his mandate is service to humanity and by extension service to God. To me, that’s not a religious statement, it is borne out of conviction that posterity shall judge him well. With what I have seen and heard, I know if we have more of Senator Kola Baloguns in the national assembly, then our Country in on path of greatness. 

Kola Balogun, a Senator that dare stood by his people when the issue of Amotekun became a controversy in the national assembly. A Senator that openly condemned killing of people anywhere in Nigeria, spoke boldly in support of restructuring, openly condemned and rose to defend the traders whose shops were raided by men of the Custom Service, raised bills and motions for the better life of his people, lobbying and relating well to produce results for his constituents by all means. Even on his 65th birthday, he was away on a committee assignment and we couldn’t pull any surprise or photo OPs with him. So, when else they tell you he is not performing, know those who can’t recognize performance can’t give performance.

So, as a Constituent and member of PDP Media team, I challenge anyone to come forward with any record of performance by any of the predecessors that can beat Senator Kola Balogun’s midterm scorecard.

Adeniyi Rotimi Johnson

ANIPR, FPD-CR

Ibadan.