For many Ogun State indigenes, the developmental strides recorded in Ogun West under Senator Adeola offer a possible model for the broader development of Ogun State. The remaining years of his representation, many supporters believe, promise even greater achievements
By Kayode Odunaro
By June 9, 2026, Senator Solomon Adeola would have represented the people of Ogun West Senatorial District for three years in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly. For this ranking parliamentarian, popularly called “Yayi” by admirers across the board, his representation has been nothing short of unprecedented in virtually all respects.
This fact has been well documented not only across media platforms but also in accounts shared beyond Nigeria’s borders as an example of what ideal representation should look like, especially when compared with the often poor performance of some legislators. His interventions on behalf of indigent citizens and other vulnerable persons have frequently been life-changing, and testimonies of his philanthropy abound in the public domain.
For many people in Ogun West Senatorial District, Ogun State and beyond, Yayi is seen as a God-sent leader capable of taking Ogun State to a new level of inclusive and holistic development for the greater good of the majority. Not a few observers remain amazed at the accomplishments he has recorded in Ogun West and other parts of the state within just three years as senator.
In addition to performing his constitutional duties as a lawmaker and overseer of the executive arm of government, Senator Adeola has, by many accounts, fulfilled his campaign promises through the facilitation of massive infrastructural projects and large-scale empowerment programmes, many of which have gone viral on social media platforms.
For the record, Senator Adeola has sponsored 16 legislative bills in the 10th Senate within the last three years. His performance in this regard ranks among the top lawmakers in the 109-member Senate.
One of the bills — the upgrade of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, to the Federal University of Technology, Ilaro — has been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This effectively brings the first federal university to Ogun West Senatorial District.
Another bill seeking to amend the over 50-year-old Chartered Institute of Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) Act has passed second reading and public hearing and is awaiting final passage. Similarly, the bill for the establishment of the Federal College of Geological and Cement Studies, Iselu, Yewa North, has passed second reading and is awaiting public hearing.
As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Adeola has also successfully supervised the passage of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Acts, including amendments to the 2025 Appropriation Act and two supplementary appropriation bills.
In the last three years, he has sponsored over 500 Ogun State indigenes to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and to Jerusalem, Israel, for Christian pilgrimage.
There is little doubt that Senator Adeola has substantially fulfilled the promises contained in his campaign manifesto. His style of representation has been widely described as exceptional and impactful
The senator has equally sponsored five motions that were adopted as Senate resolutions on issues of both national and local importance. One of such motions related to allegations against the Senate and the Presidency over the 2024 Appropriation Act, which eventually led to the brief suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi. Another motion advocated the reopening of petrol stations along international border communities — a policy now being implemented to ease hardship in border areas.
For the people of Ogun West and indeed many residents of Ogun State, Senator Adeola’s most visible impact lies in the area of infrastructure development involving projects worth billions of naira. Some of these interventions involve the rehabilitation of facilities abandoned for decades, including projects dating back to the era of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Within three years in office, Senator Adeola has reportedly completed over 852 infrastructural projects across the five local government areas of Ogun West — Ado-Odo/Ota, Ipokia, Yewa South, Yewa North and Imeko-Afon — as well as projects in the other two senatorial districts of Ogun State.
These projects are too numerous to list exhaustively here, but they are regularly featured in brochures distributed during his empowerment programmes. Many Ogun State indigenes and residents can attest to either seeing or directly benefiting from them.
Of the projects executed, 169 are located in Ogun Central Senatorial District, while 108 are in Ogun East Senatorial District. The projects include roads, school buildings, ICT centres, primary healthcare centres, intensive care units (ICUs), modern markets, police stations, town halls, transformers and over 30,000 solar streetlight poles installed across communities.
Several additional projects are currently at different stages of completion, including the long-abandoned Rounda–Olorunda–Imeko Road and the 107-kilometre Ilara–Ilase Road, which cuts across four of the five local government areas and more than 20 communities in Ogun West.
Senator Adeola has also facilitated the donation of 74 buses and minibuses to traditional rulers, Muslim and Christian organisations, market women, tertiary institutions and several community groups across Ogun State.
To strengthen security, he facilitated the construction of police stations and the donation of security vehicles to police formations in Ilaro, Sango, Agbara, Imeko and Idiroko, as well as to the DSS and NSCDC commands in Ogun State.
Some observers have argued that Ogun West has witnessed more widespread and evenly distributed infrastructural development in the last three years than at any other period since the creation of Ogun State over 50 years ago. That, according to many, underscores the exceptional nature of Senator Adeola’s representation and his demonstration of democratic dividends under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Beyond infrastructure, Senator Adeola has also focused heavily on human capital development and direct empowerment. Through various empowerment initiatives over the last three years, no fewer than 50,000 constituents are said to have benefited directly.
These programmes typically involve skills acquisition training for women and youths, followed by the distribution of multimillion-naira equipment and cash grants to support self-employment ventures.
At one of the empowerment programmes, beneficiaries trained in leather production showcased products that impressed the senator so much that he promised to establish a dedicated leather products complex in the senatorial district.
To ensure proper follow-up and future assistance, records of beneficiaries are documented in programme brochures.
The senator has also facilitated cash grants for market women. During the first phase of the programme, 5,000 women received grants of N25,000 each paid directly into their bank accounts. In the second phase, an additional 10,000 women benefited from grants of N50,000 each, including beneficiaries outside Ogun West Senatorial District.
Similarly, about 6,000 farmers, both individually and in clusters, received support in the form of tractors, farm implements, improved seedlings, agricultural inputs and cash grants.
In the education sector, beyond the construction of over 200 classrooms, Senator Adeola’s scholarship and bursary schemes have reportedly benefited about 5,000 undergraduates with awards of N200,000 and N100,000 respectively.
Another round of scholarships and bursary awards for about 6,000 students is currently being processed by the Scholarship and Bursary Board headed by Professor Tope Popoola.
On the religious front, Senator Adeola has continued to distribute food items, rams, cows and hampers during festive periods, while also sponsoring Muslim and Christian pilgrimages to holy lands.
In the last three years, he has sponsored over 500 Ogun State indigenes to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and to Jerusalem, Israel, for Christian pilgrimage.
There is little doubt that Senator Adeola has substantially fulfilled the promises contained in his campaign manifesto. His style of representation has been widely described as exceptional and impactful.
This performance, many believe, may have contributed to his emergence as the consensus governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election and his eventual victory at the party’s direct primary.
For many Ogun State indigenes, the developmental strides recorded in Ogun West under Senator Adeola offer a possible model for the broader development of Ogun State. The remaining years of his representation, many supporters believe, promise even greater achievements.
•High Chief Kayode Odunaro writes from Alaagba Compound, Ilaro,
Yewa South Local Government Area, Ogun State.
Email: kayodunaro@hotmail.com
•Opinions, positions or thoughts expressed here are personal and strictly of the writer/author and do not represent the views of The Daily Crucible.
