By: YUSUF MUBARAQ AUTHORITY
Despite his groundbreaking and heart-rendering legislative performances coupled with his kind gestures and patriotic community interventions, the personality of the Distinguished Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe representing Kwara Central at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly remains misconstrued. And undeservingly, some accomplished mischief-makers and branded preacher of hates have continued to malign him despite that his representation as a lawmaker is not unsatisfactory.
As a fine legislator, owing to his earlier stint at the State House of Assembly, Oloriegbe remains one of the best hands in the Senate today and a top-ranking senator in proactive representation.
Using legislative performance as a knife to butcher Oloriegbe's representation, he has 9 bills to his name aside from not less than ten he had co-sponsored. Several motions of national importance are also sponsored and co-sponsored by him, all in matters of a year and a half. The ratio is amazing and unprecedented in the history of Kwara representation at the Red chamber.
Those bills and motions are verily consequential to the plight of an average Nigerians and not just to advance the personal or organizational cause.
This speaks glowingly to the ingenuity of this unsung senator we have from Kwara.
Let me mention a few of those bills for your perusal.
As a revered medical doctor of note, Oloriegbe takes much interest in health-related legislation and he's always been one of the vocal voices for the improved health systems in the Senate.
He sponsored the bill on the need to establish National Health Insurance Commission (NHIC) in a bid to curtail excess governmental charges on the vulnerable and the downtrodden as well as making health insurance mandatory for all Nigerians so that we can have access to quality and qualitative healthcare services.
The bill has passed through all the procedures at the Senate and currently awaiting presidential assents.
Also notable amongst his bills is the one sponsored on Mental health and Substance Abuse. The bill is currently at a concurrent stage and if passed it aims to strike a balance in the abuse of drugs and offer necessary ways to ameliorate and proffer a lasting solution to the issue of drug-related abuses and most importantly mental health. There is another of his bills seeking for the establishment of the first Psychiatric Hospital in North Central Geopolitical Zone at Kwara, Asa LG to be precise.
These are just a few of the nine bills sponsored by the senator without us delving into the ones he co-sponsored with other lawmakers.
It takes commitments and the will to do against all odds before one can succeed as a senator, that's why today, some senators cannot boast of having a single bill passed in their name. But for Oloriegbe, legislation is a must scored goal.
When it comes to representation, Sen. Oloriegbe, is one of the greatest lobbyists of all time, just to advance the course of his constituents. He always looks out for doors of opportunities and ensures he gets them opened for the benefit of his people. Today, several members of his constituency have gotten plump employment opportunities at different Federal Government establishments through his efforts.
It's now a thing to wonder whenever one hears people, especially the educated ones amongst us castigating the senator for non-performance.
May I ask them what is the yardstick used in measuring a senator's achievement/performance if not Legislation and Representations?
Over time, I have realized that the so-called public affairs analysts in Kwara are not too aware of the intricacies in the Senate.
They have less or no clues about how government operates especially the legislature organ, hence their biased judgment on the personality of the Senator.
My very good brother and the Media Aide to the senator, Bolaji Aladie has done wonderfully well on the area of enlightenment about the roles of the lawmakers on the popular radio program, "Awon Asofin Wa" and despite his efforts to communicate the roles of the Senate to the public, we still have some analysts of doom who are hellbent on casting the senator in a bad light.
It's instructive to state that the Senator's roles are not those accrued to him by these misinformed elements rather, his works remain and include legislation, representation, and oversight functions.
Oloriegbe remains committed to the plight of his constituents and no hate whatsoever can take that away from him.
He's performing and bursting bubbles and I pray he continues in that regard.
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