NAJEEM SALAAM: The Story of Self-Made Man, By Goke Butika

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile".-----Albert Einstein

NAJEEM SALAAM
Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly

If you are a Yoruba person, South West of Nigeria, and you had your childhood in between 30s and 80s, there is probability that you might have heard some proverbs relating to Sanusi Adebisi Idikan and Salami Agbaje, the two great men with contrasting features in Ibadan.

The former was fondly called Adebisi Idikan, and he made fortune from "Aso ofi" and cocoa plantation, while Salami Agbaje made his wealth from timber, for he supplied railway slippers that were used to construct train track from Lagos to Ibadan that was opened in 1901. But Adebisi made history because he chose to live for others; while Agbaje lived for his children. Of course, both are acceptable, but living for others is more worthwhile.

As at the time Adebisi was sitting on sprawling wealth as the first man to use car aside from horde of horses in Ibadan, and gave the cosmopolitan city the first architectural masterpiece as his residence, taxable adults were in serious trauma, for majority could not afford to pay tax levied by the colonial authority, due to the fact that they were subsistent farmers.

It is given that tax is a must anywhere in the world, and it was an offence that attracted detention in Mapo prison then. So, many Ibadan natives were languished in detention for tax evasion. It was so horrible that Balogun Ola, the son of Baale committed suicide, because he could no longer afford the pain people were going through in detention at Mapo, an action that earned him an epithet-"kobomoje" meaning a brave one.

Adebisi Idikan took it upon himself to end the sorrow of the taxable adults in Ibadan, as he drove to the colonial office to demand for the total cost of taxes of all taxable adults, and from then he chose to foot the bill as long as he lived, a philanthropic gesture that saved many people from detention and agony of tax debt.

From that time, the elders have a way of remembering Adebisi Idikan as an unsung hero, who lived and died for his people. In Ejigbo, an ancient town in the State of Osun, today, one man appears to have breasted the ribbon of Adebisi Idikan who lived for his people; the man is Najeem Folasayo Salaam. The difference is that Adebisi was a very wealthy business man, while Salaam is a poor politician with mind of uncommon generosity. The common denominator between the two is philanthropism.

Salaam's philanthropy is not premised on the magnitude of his wealth, which he does not have anyway, but his willingness to part with the little he has, marks him out as generous, for he has the capacity to deny himself to bail people of critical challenges. Analytically, one is generous if one can part with little from little than to part from plenty.

Salaam, some years back was only known among his friends and relations as a man of robust patience and tigeritude, suggesting that he has the mastery of being gentle with gentle people, and could be tough with tough ones, as it was espoused in in the letter the Great Abraham Lincoln wrote to the teacher of his son.

As an orphan, there was nothing that marked Najeem out as special. Of course, he could not have been among the special breed whose fathers' wealth was subject of envy, because he had no such luxury, and he must have been a victim intra-personal depression each time occasion demanded for parental chemistry, but the strength of courage he deployed to weather the storm of life seems legendary.

However, he chose a path of self-made, bearing in mind that the road to success is always rough. As at the time he was growing up, there were various options opened to him: to either learn trade or take to farming or pursue education, but he chose the latter, knowing full well that he would have to double up his perseverance, so as ease the burden of his aunt who had undertaken his care from very tender age.

Having crossed the hurdles of the first degree and had stunt in business, Salaam joined politics, and understudied the practical of what he learnt in the university from elders who had mastered the turf. But his combination of the wisdom of fox and energy of lion together made politics a natural call for him. Let whoever chooses to disprove this piece visit his constituency and conduct a discrete investigation.

There was a time he contested for the post of council chairman under the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), the electorate stood by him, but the hostility of the then ruling party denied him his victory, and instead of jumping the ship, he took a philosophical calmness and identified with the progressive camp, and the hostility did not cease when he won the election that took him to Osun State House of Assembly, as the same bully ruling party got a party that did contest election to fight a battle of conspiracy in election tribunal. As programmed, his mandate was truncated through a rerun election that was more of a gang-up than free and fair exercise.

Along the line, he got some overture that could make any politician ditch principle for filthy lucre, but Salaam is one man who follows his conscience; he rejected good offer when it was obvious that he had no financial strength. Rather he threw his hat on the ring again and won resoundingly in 2011; that was the journey that brought him to number three position in the State of Osun till date.

Rt. Hon. Najeem Salaam could not be counted among the wealth or politicians whose least of their troubles is money, but his sprawling popularity engendered through philanthropy and political sagacity. He is leading a parliament of 26 different people, of different value, different world-views, different backgrounds and pedigree, and for five years no single case of rancor or treachery was recorded. Even Governor Rauf Aregbesola is in the habit of telling whoever cares a hoot that the synergy between the executive and Najeem Salaam led parliament is what led to monumental development in the state.

Some pundits would rush to describe his parliament a "rubber stamp" legislature, but Salaam has vowed to continue with the tradition of a parliament that facilitates development of the state, instead of radicalism that would decrease the good of the greatest number. That is the picture of the man and his principle.

Happy birthday Mr. Speaker.

BUTIKA is the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, state of Osun House of Assenbly.

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The Unending Struggle Of The Elite And The Poor, By Goke Butika

Goke Butika, The Author

"The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."---Abraham Lincoln.

News from different templates and platforms are not too cheering, though we have some headlines which constituted distractions to our experience lately. It is now commonplace for the people who ought to play decency to resort to methodical beggings; workers who ought to be shoulder high are now walking with their tails wrapped in their laps; government officials who are fond of flaunting peacock arrogance are now gentle as jelly, and our governors are now talkative because they have to appeal to matter and spirit to convince us that they are not the cause of our collective sufferings.

To those who could not reason beyond religion, our contradictions (poverty, failed education sector, fuel shortage, insecurity, man inhumanity to man and political imbroglio) were caused by the spirit or celestial realm to teach us about the mightiness of the Supreme force. While those who have strive to divorce God or Satan from human affairs believe that successive governments had mismanaged our resources all along, and the attendant results is what we are experiencing in the country now.

I am tempted to support the latter position on the mismanagement of our country, because it appears logical and straight in discussion, but a situation like this demands a deep thought process called a priori approach if we care to abandon the confusion of illusion and delusion the two positions have presented.

In the first place, what are the indicators to identify from the metaphysical position of the spirit as the cause of our nation which is still flinging on the cliffhanger whose hooks have loosened and struggling to give way? To the determinist, everything we are passing through now had been conditioned in the highest form, and that we are helpless. However, a thinker would ask, why the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ethiopia and Ghana are working and Nigeria with all resources is perambulating on the edge of recession? Can we say, God is kind to those countries and wicked to Nigeria? If no, why the difference in thinking and institutions? It goes on like that.

Yes, it is belabouring the obvious that Nigeria has been unlucky with leaders, because those who were elected in the immediate past and far past turned out to be opportunists, we know because they messed up the opportunities given to them to better the lots of the country people, and I elect to be silent on the incumbent leaders because they are still on the job, and it will be unfair to pass judgment on the people with four year mandate to be critiqued in nine months. Hence, the second position of cause of our trouble seems inviting, but I need more than that.

From my volitional concept, I think I place the cause on the struggle of the elite and the poor, compelling me to retool the dialectics of this situation. The poor are in millions, they have the population, and electorally, they have the power to change their leaders and situation, while our elite holds the power  of superstructure, where slogan and manifestoes of the parties are designed, where resources are deployed for political struggle and where the good or bad leadership is authored.

A look at the dialectics will show us that the elite must rely on the poor to achieve their set objectives, but quite interesting, the poor of this nation have never negotiated for their well being using their power, because the elite class has a way of using the common denominator (money) to wrestle the power from them. And it is simple-the elite class will just warehouse the money that belongs to everyone, allow the poor to suffer hell, and when the election is approaching, they release the crispy naira of smaller proportion to the leaders of the poor, and the poor will begin to divide into pro and anti elite; there would be no debate on good governance again, but on "good man" with inexhaustible wallet.

The followers of the poor class would begin to pick perception about the big spender, and bombard his place with the shout of "hosanna", they would throw caution to the wind and ready to fight for the man who has a second address abroad. Meanwhile, as the poor are fighting outside, the elite class are counting the cost of their investment and designing ways of recouping their money. So, the interest is no longer collective, and the diagnosis of the suffering of the masses does not matter anymore.

Give it to the "boy scout" of Ekiti, Governor Ayo Fayose,  he finds himself among the elite class, but his mind is on the street, hence, his incongruences become volatile and confusing. It is strange because his character is neither  fully elitist nor "poorish", and the only way to manifest the confusion is "stomach infrastructure" he personified. Look, the man recognizes the poor of the poor, but desires elite class, and that is the struggle of two opposites.

Meanwhile, the national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Tinubu seems to be angry with the arrogance of Petroleum Minister of State, Ibe Kwachikwu who just told us to lose hope on fuel queue at our filling stations, because "he is not a magician" and he hits him hard on why he failed to massage the empty ego of the poor masses-that is negation of the negation in the dialectics of the struggle.

What is the way out? The only credible way is for the poor to truly identify a face that would speak for them and the person must have conquered his greed, because the elite will certainly offer a price, irresistible price in terms of money, position of authority and women. Though very difficult to get such a character. Can I be that person? Ha! I have tasted the two sides already-poverty and comfort and I am no longer neutral, because I have chosen side of comfort like any mortal. Can you be that person? I doubt it, but somebody from the blue could match the quality if the poor get it right. Until then, the difference between six and half of a dozen is difficult to find.

Certainly, Tinubu does not fit the frame, because he is a leading light of the elite class. More so, he is 64 years now, on passage of mortality. The first step is for the poor masses to put up a thinking cap and dissect the antics of the elite before taking position, unfortunately, the poor does not have a congregation like association or church, but everywhere.

(This article is dedicated to Bola Tinubu's 64th birthday.)

Goke Butika, is a journalist of continental exposure.