Searchlight on A Golden Son of Yewa Land , The Distinguished Senator Sunday Adeola Olamilekan Solomon aka Yayi at 55

By: Olufemi Orunsola 

Some 55 years ago, precisely on Sunday, August 10, 1969, at the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, a baby boy was born to the family of a man called Ayinde Adeola Ogunleye and his wife, Abeeni Olasunbo Ogunleye (née Akinola). Today, that baby boy, who has grown in leaps and bounds, achieving great feats and bearing a promising future is Senator Olamilekan Solomon Ademola, popularly known and addressed as Yayi in Nigerian political circles.

Yayi, who grew up as a typical Alimosho boy in the aquatic state of Lagos, Nigeria, began his education at State Primary School in Alimosho, Lagos. He proceeded to Community Grammar School, Akowonjo, Lagos for his secondary education before moving on to the Ondo State Polytechnic, Owo (now known as Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo state) where he bagged his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accounting.

Adeola, a reputable Chartered Accountant, is also a Chartered Accountant-Fellow at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), holding the title FCA.

Senator Adeola Olamilekan Solomon joined active politics, sometime at the dawn of the 4th Republic, when he was nominated and won the primary of the then ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Lagos State and was elected as a member to represent Alimosho State Constituency 2, at the Lagos State House of Assembly from 2003 to 2007. He also enjoyed a reelection to serve in the same capacity between 2007 and 2011.

It is on records that Senator Adeola Yayi earned huge reputation for his instrumentality to the enactment of the law that strengthened the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, a game changer legislation that catapulted the revenue of the aquatic state from N5 billion monthly to over N20 billion.

 He was also part of the team that passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Public Procurement Act of Lagos State.

Adeola was elected to the Federal Legislature to represent Alimosho Federal Constituency at the Nigerian House of Representatives in 2011.When the committees of the House were inaugurated by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal for members, he got position of the chairman of the only constitutional committee, the Public Accounts Committee of the House. He got the post as a first time member of the House. He is now a Senator and is the Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Communications as well as member of the Finance, Marine, Interior and Science and Technology committees of the Senate.

Yayi was re-elected as senator representing Lagos west in the 2019 general elections.

Barely two days to his 54th Birthday, he was named the chairman, Senate committee on appropriations of the 10th senate on 8 August 2023.

Yayi holds the Nigerian National Honour of The Commander of the Niger (CON), conferred on him by former President, Muhammadu Buhari on October 12, 2022.

He is also a Fellow of the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro.

Yayi, after much opposition against his decision to transit his political representation of his people from Lagos state, were he was born to Ogun West, his original source, emerged as the current Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District at the National Assembly during the last general elections in Ogun state, Nigeria.

Known for his massive philanthropy and execution of highly impactful constituency projects over the years, as Senator Adeola Olamilekan Solomon aka Yayi celebrates his 55th birthday anniversary, many people in Ogun West Senatorial District as well as other quarters in Ogun state,look up to him break the jinx of perceived age long marginalization of Yewa people from the Ogun West Senatorial District from the scheme of political leadership of Ogun state since the inception of the state.

Many political admirers, observers of his political career as well as followers of Senator Adeola Yayi are hopefully prayerful that the Distinguished Senator will, by the immaculate grace of God, celebrate his 58th birthday come August 10, 2027 in office as an elected Governor of the Gateway state.

Far beyond the 2027 Aspirations of Senator Adeola Olamilekan Solomon Yayi, my sincere prayers for him is that he will rise to the utmost peak of his leadership potentials in Nigeria just like his birthday mate, a former President of the United States of America, Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) who was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933. The August 10-born Herbert Hover was a member of the Republican Party, and held office during the onset of the Great Depression. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and was the director of the U.S. Food Administration, followed by post-war relief of Europe. In the 1920s, he had served as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

It is on record, in the anals of American history that, when the U.S. entered the war in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Hoover to lead the Food Administration. He became famous as America's "food czar" because after the war, Hoover led the American Relief Administration, which provided food to the starving millions in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Russia.

The entire staff, management and Board of Trustees of Open Television Naija (OTN) News, hereby wishes the Golden Son of Yewa and Senator Representing the good people of Ogun West Senatorial District, Senator Sunday Adeola Olamilekan Solomon aka Yayi, Fifty Five (55) Hearty Cheers on this auspicious occasion of his birthday. 

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Olufemi Orunsola, a Development Communication Expert/Public Affairs Analyst & Group Managing Director, OPEN-WAVES MULTIMEDIA owners of OTN News online & OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA, writes from Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

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