OPINION
By Kunle Bakare
A humanitarian gesture like this, from an alumnus of the prestigious Ayedaade Grammar School Ikire, should be roundly applauded, considering its untold and invaluably obvious and subtle benefits.
It was a day Honourable Ayo Omidiran, the Iya Adeen of Irewole Local Government Area, and a foremost parliamentarian from Irewole, Isokan, and Ayedaade Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives Abuja, corrected the wrong long-held and short-sighted notion that football playing among secondary school students should be reprehensible.
At the campaign, cum family house of the quintessential Lower Chamber member, on the 31st January 2022, selected secondary schools in her constituency, in a manner that was both inspirational and sensational, carted away valuable sundry football kits.coutesy the parliamentarian.
According to Omidiran, her expression of that futuristic goodwill, obviously a token, for now, was just to wet the appetite of a group of communities which had entrusted her with their extremely dear votes, as more gifting feat is in the pipeline.
Unlike the very-many vague, or even phantom promises that are a product of whimsical, devious, or insincere leadership minds, the Iya Adeen plans to organise and go on to foot the bill of football competition for all secondary Schools in her constituency, apart from implementing some other public-spirited projects.
A humanitarian gesture like this, from an alumnus of the prestigious Ayedaade Grammar School Ikire, should be roundly applauded, considering its untold and invaluably obvious and subtle benefits.
Simply put, encouraging teenagers in extracurriculars, especially the game of soccer, effectively takes their minds away from antisocial habits, such as drinking, smoking, gambling, cultism, many other social ills.
A Nigeria space will also be endowed with a youth population who have balance physical, mental and social health, better time management potentials, improved academic prospects, and profound mentorship skills to fall on, aside from the juicy football career opportunities available to them home and abroad.
Ayo Omidiran, an astute and visionary politician, is apparently riding on the crest of a wave at the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly Abuja, on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, amid numerous job slots won her electorates, and for some impactful constituency projects executed.
Though, a compact and fairly diminutive woman from an exterior perspective, she features an admirably fierce lion’s heart in figurative terms, putting gender sentiments aside.
As such, she has adequately proven herself, preponderantly, as a legendary Napoleon in an upsetting and unreliable Nigerian polity characterised by multifarious political chameleons.
The message is unequivocally simple: Our teeming politicians, irrespective of the party affiliations, could take a cue from the Omidiran instance to make that phenomenally huge impact. Of course, on the ready but eagerly awaiting electorate minds!
Believe, they have both rational and conventional views; that is, the electorates. Once sincerity towards a better Osun is observed in a public office aspirant, they will throw their whole weight behind such.
Remember, the harvest is bumper, but labourers are exceedingly few.
*Kunle Bakare, the convener of Charity Cries, writes from Ikire, Osun State
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