Gbemisola Saraki – the Amazon On the Rise [column]

Lagos, May 12, 2010 (Daily Champion/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki is a woman of many parts. A successful banker and an astute politician, she has in the shortest possible time been able to touch the lives of so many people. A scion of the Saraki family, she was born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth.

As the only daughter of Dr. Olusola Saraki, the medical doctor turned politician, one time Senate leader in the second republic and the godfather of Kwara politics, Gbemisola represents Kwara Central Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

Brilliant, assiduous, charming and caring, Gbemisola is the peoples' politician in the real sense of it. Growing up in an environment dominated by her father's brand of politics, she was exposed to people from all works of life early in her life. Oloye, as her father is popularly called places premium on the welfare of the people at the grassroots. This connection with the people has been her guarding philosophy ever since.

Gbemisola once said: "Leadership isn't an opportunity of personal comfort. Rather it's an opportunity of reinventing Nigeria by extending the comfort of Nigerians. Leadership affords us fleeting positions of authority that are mere hollow symbols which reveal the kinks and strengths of our convictions of making impact. It's never an insulation."

Her early exposure and parental example as exemplified by her father are responsible for her politics of humility, empathy and tolerance. Since her foray into politics, Senator Gbemisola Saraki has made immeasurable contributions to her constituency.

This, along with her sympathetic, unassuming and broadminded nature has endeared her to the people. Such contributions include religious sponsorship, scholarship to students, employment, constituency projects, empowerment and philanthropic gestures.

In the area of religion, the senator has helped many Muslims in the state realise one of the five pillars of their religion, which is pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In this wise, between 1999 and 2003, 14 pilgrims were sponsored on Hajj, between 2005 and 2006, 15 pilgrims were sponsored. In 2007, the senator disbursed special packages of $250 to 33 persons who were the beneficiaries of the Senator Gbemisola Saraki Hajj sponsorship. In 2008, 60 people benefited from the Hajj sponsorship, while in 2009 32 people benefited.

Although, Kwara State is predominantly Muslim, Christians were not left out of the largesse. As a result, between 2003 and 2009, 13 pilgrims were sponsored to Jerusalem.

One area where Senator Saraki has had big impact on the lives of her people is education. Although, education is the best legacy a parent can bequeath to his/her children, many could not do so due to paucity of fund. To help out such indigent students from poor parents, the lawmaker has since 2003 been awarding scholarships to many of them to further their education. Between 2005/2006, she paid the West African School Certificate (WASC) examination fees of 53 secondary school students in her constituency, while 21 students who were indigenes of the state in private secondary schools in Ilorin, Akure, Abuja and Plateau States got scholarship awards from the lawmaker.

In 2009, 46 students across the state in primary, secondary and higher institutions, including universities, polytechnics and colleges of education benefited from Senator Saraki's scholarship scheme. In the same 2009, 15 students were beneficiaries of between N50,000 and N400,000 education support from the lawmaker.

Senator Saraki's grassroots attachment also manifests in the series of constituency projects executed between 2003 to date. These include sinking of 29 wells, sinking of motorized and hand pump boreholes, construction of blocks of classrooms, VIP toilets, supply of furniture, textbooks and writing materials, supply of medical equipment among others.

Through the 'HAVE FOUNDATION' which she registered to reach out to the poor, Senator Gbemisola Saraki has empowered so many people in her constituency. HAVE means Hope and Vision for Ilorin Emirate. Through the foundation, she has been giving financial support to the needy. She has also purchased tractors with implements to assist rural farmers in land cultivation in her constituency. The empowerment programme has also benefited 33 people. One of them, Mallam Abdulrasaq Hossein Eja got a Mazda 626 for commercial purposes, while the remaining 32 got cash awards ranging from N450,000 to N15,000, hair dryers, grinding machines, sewing and pressing irons as well as motorcycles.

Indeed, she was well prepared for the task ahead as she was got sound education, right from foundation. For her secondary education, she attended Cheltenham Ladies' College, London and University of Sussex where she obtained a Bachelor's degree in economics before returning to Nigeria.

Her working experience took her to the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry, Lagos, where her duties included loans assessment and disbursement and later, credit analysis and risk management. She also worked with Societe General Bank ( Nigeria ) Limited, first as Head of Money Markets and later that of Domiciliary Accounts. Between 1994 and 1999, she was the Executive Director of Ashmount Insurance Brokers, Lagos before venturing into politics.

Her foray into politics began in 1999, when she first contested for elective post into the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), and immediately made her impact felt both in the National Assembly and the politics of her state. Early in her political life, Gbemisola as an honourable member of the House of Representatives realised the positive effect grassroots politicking could have on her future aspiration.

The result of this realisation was the beginning of her connection with the locals, the grassroots in her constituency, a bond that has yielded positive results on both sides.

In 2003 Gbemisola Saraki moved a notch further up in her political career as she contested to be a senator, this time on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Once again, her popularity, coupled with her father's clout won her the coveted seat. Hard-working, charismatic and articulate, she returned to the Senate in 2007, thus making her the highest female legislator in the country after her earlier four years stint in the House of Representatives.

Senator Saraki is the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Marine and Transport. She had earlier shared the Senate Committees on National Planning, Poverty Alleviation and Economic Affairs and on Corruption. She is also a member of five different senate committees. These are the Committees on Aviation, Commerce, Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs and Rules and Business. She is also a member of the Senate Team to the ECOWAS Parliament.

Since her return to the senate in 2007, Gbemisola has been active in the business of lawmaking. Her experience in the National Assembly as a lawmaker and her membership of different committees ensures that she has deep understanding of the critical issues confronting governance in Nigeria. She has single handedly sponsored seven bills and co-sponsored one with eight of her colleagues, all of which are at various stages of legislative action. One of the bills includes the Skills Acquisition and Development Trust Fund Bill 2007. This was the first bill to be submitted on the floor of the Senate after the inauguration of the current National Assembly. This bill seeks to establish a Trust Fund. The fund, according to section 5 of the bill is to "manage and disburse Funds for the acquisition, development, upgrading and promotion of skills and expertise of persons who are either unemployed or are preparing to join the workforce for poverty alleviation as well as employment generation by arranging training programmes for qualified persons in appropriate institutions." The bill has already passed the first reading and is now before the Committees on Establishment and Public Service, Labour and Education.

There is the Police Fund Bill 2007, which seeks a 2 percent tax on the "assessable" profit of all the companies registered in Nigeria. The tax shall be disbursed and administered to "develop, maintain and provide facilities and equipment for the Nigerian Police Force."

Others are Existing Vacancies (Publication) Bill 2008, Anti-Terrorism Bill 2008, Nigerian Coast Guard Bill 2008, Mortgage Regulatory Bill 2009, Labour Act (Amendment) Bill 2009 and the National Transport Commission Bill 2008, which she co-sponsored.

As a politician who is concerned about the high poverty level in the country, Gbemisola is one leader to be watched in the nearest future.

Ogunmoriti is a staff of Marketing Edge Magazine, Lagos.