BY AMAZING ROYALITIES
Insomnia is the condition where you are not sleeping as you should, not sleeping enough, not sleeping well or having trouble falling or staying asleep. Insomnia can be a minor inconvenience for some, a major issue to others. Just as the causes of insomnia vary among individuals, so are there diverse approaches to its treatment.
Sleep Researchers claim that listening to relaxing words before falling asleep and during early stages of sleep increases the length of time spent in deep sleep. In fact, it’s proven that a well crafted story tends to provide word-induced relaxation during sleep.
Leaning towards the screenwriter and film director Robert McKee, who emphasized the importance of narrative structure and storytelling in the submission that people naturally think narratively rather than argumentatively or paradigmatically (McKee, 2003:), we shall attempt to spin the menacing roll call of life-impacting projects initiated and executed by Senator Adeola, in a manner deserving to be ranked higher than a lullaby, hence it becomes a therapeutic experience.
Let’s examine “The Sleepless Princess and the Tale of Numbers” in setting the basis for Yayi’s Therapy!
Once upon a time, in a neighbouring kingdom of Kòòmì, there lived a beautiful princess named Àṣàbí, who as a result of an affliction couldn’t fall asleep. Àṣàbí’s parents, the king and queen, tried every remedy imaginable to cure their beloved daughter of the affliction and were at their wit’s end until a diviner asked them to seek a story teller.
Then came the royal proclamation that any suitor who could tell a story captivating enough to lull Àṣàbí to sleep would win her hand in marriage.
At the unusual clash, a suitor told the story of a brave knight who slew a fiery dragon to save a village. Another competitor spun a yarn about the magical forest where animals danced under the stars, more suitors took their turns, regaling Àṣàbí with tales of adventure, romance, and fantasy. But no matter how fantastical or thrilling the stories, Àṣàbí remained wide awake.
As the night wore on, just when it seemed like all hope was lost, a young man named Ìgè stepped forward, took a deep breath and began to speak:
“There was an orphaned girl living with a very wicked foster family that made life unbearable for her, but she endured the hard life and would always smile while doing the chores. One day, she was deliberately left behind at the farm, locked in the barn, she cried herself to sleep and dreamt about fairies”.
“The girl was amazed to find herself under a star filled sky with sweet melodies flowing in the air,” Ìgè continued, “and she was instructed to keep counting the stars nonstop until the music ends, so she counted happily 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17. . . ”
As Ìgè counted in millions of hundreds and thousands, Àṣàbí’s eyelids grew heavier, her breathing slowed, and her body relaxed. Finally, with a soft sigh, she drifted off to sleep. The king and queen were overjoyed, and Ìgè was declared the winner. He and Àṣàbí were married in a grand ceremony, and they lived happily ever after, with Ìgè telling her different versions of the tale of numbers to help her sleep every night.
Illustratively, the Ogun West Senatorial District, as a people, can be rightly likened to the ancient Àṣàbí, who have been enduring underdevelopment as their Insomnia.
The leadership – deprived and underdevelopment laden five local governments in the District were unable to sleep as it were, in the last forty-eight years because of their precarious situation.
Within the spate of two years however, they have also been instructed by fate to keep counting developmental projects nonstop, even while Yayi said he has just started executing projects, the people have lost count.
They have begun to fall asleep, as their pain of years of marginalization cum affliction are fading away. Across the five local governments, reports of celebration abound; either to commission the construction or completion of life-changing projects, as well as handing over starter packs or tools, as a form of lasting empowerment, to artisans and entrepreneurs.
Senator Adeola has fitted in perfectly as a leader who imbibed the core principles of holistic leadership; Investing in Others, as leaders should empower and support their team members, fostering a culture of growth and development as well as Relational Capacity and Networking, that leaders must build strong, trusting relationships with team members and stakeholders, fostering collaboration and communication, both of which have positioned Senator Adeola as a thorough bred, people – oriented leader, committed to the good of all.
Within the spate of Senator Adeola’s political evolution in the Senatorial District, a host of notable sons and daughters of Ogun West have been offered different platforms to display their ingenuity, knowledge and skills in transforming the systems towards contributing to national development.
Senator Adeola’s profound impact on the infrastructural outlook of Ogun West has surpassed the imagination of even his critics, it gives credence to the Yoruba adage about the description of a moving elephant that can not be belilittled “Àjànàkú kọjá a mo rí nǹkan fìrí, bí a bá r’érin, ká sọ p’á a r’érin”, so much so, that compiling a list of his projects across the 5 local government areas of the Senatorial District remains a cumbersome job, the outcome of which represents the Yayi’s Therapy for Insomnia!
The Insignificant, Yet Enchanting Impacts
There’s a notion among our people about friends from across the Niger who would not accept any potion for use in curing ailments without asking the question “ṣe ó ti ṣe ẹ rí?”, meaning have you experienced such? and the Yoruba adage about verifiable sources of information, “èèyàn tó bá fẹ́ ẹ́ pa irọ́ ló máa sọ pé ẹlẹ́rìí òun wà l’ọ́run” my encounter with some of the direct beneficiaries of Senator Adeola’s intervention has humbled me.
Adisa Joseph, a smallholder farmer at Imoto in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State and a dear brother has never been happier, he is a proud owner of necessary farming tools, agricultural inputs and some home appliances, courtesy the unprecedented Yayi empowerment efforts, but that’s insignificant, considering the humongous number of empowerment beneficiaries everywhere!
The enchanting aspect is that, Adisa who was prone to making frantic calls to siblings and relatives in the cities to request money has cultivated a new habit of visiting the cities often, not to solicit funds, but to deliver fresh farm produce, fruits and livestock to the siblings and relatives, particularly those offering foster care to his children.
On one of such visits to Abeokuta, the state capital, Adisa brought a live catfish weighing more than 12kg that he caught at the river Ìdì with the fishing tools received from Yayi. Apparently, Adisa and tons of others like him are no longer beggarly and are far from being a burden to others. Senator Adeola will definitely not be able to include such live transformation feats in the list of his achievements, but posterity keeps record!
Without doubting the potency of Yayi’s Therapy, listing the prominent projects of Senator Adeola will be avoided in this piece, for want of time and space as this is not an Advertorial to catalogue the location and type of the 43 road projects of varying lengths and structure spanning Ado-Odo/Ota, Imeko-Afon, Ipokia, Yewa North, and Yewa South. The ultramodern Information and Communication Technology, ICT centre in a selected school per council area, construction of classrooms and other structures in 7 schools, provision of functional primary health care centres at 7 locations, construction of modern structures in 8 markets and provision of 5 multipurpose Town Halls.
It was Satinder Dhimanin in his book, Holistic Leadership: A New Paradigm for Today’s Leaders, that said Learning to be an effective leader requires a level of personal transformation on the continuum of self, spirit, and service. These are exemplified in Senator (Aremo) Solomon Olamilekan ADEOLA, the development-oriented and genuine lover of the people, who invested heavily on strengthening critical infrastructure and ensuring improved “Stomach Infrastructure” for his constituents.
Every excellent student deserves a promotion to higher class and for the sterling representation of his constituents, it is expedient for the good people of Ogun West and indeed the Ogun East and Central Senatorial Districts that are desirous of good governance and holistic development to project the political guru with a midas touch as the outstandingly unique and most capable candidate from Ogun West to contest and win the state Governorship election in 2027.