MY ENCOUNTER WITH SENATOR MONSURAT OLAJUMOKE SUNMONU by Asimiyu Muhideen Abiodun

It was 4am in the morning . l just  got a surprised  phone call from the Senator representing Oyo Central Sanatoria district , Senator Monsurat Olajumoke Sunmonu , telling me that l will be among the  selected youths from Oyo Central  to  pay her a courtesy  visit  in Abuja .

That was after  she had invited some party men and women from the same Senatorial District to her Abuja office.

Anyway , that call wasn't a  strange call  but the message accompanied  made the calling a  special one.

On the 8th of Feburay , 2018 , we were asked to converge at lwo-Road , lbadan and a bus was sent to us from Abuja.

Meanwhile , before l left home for Abuja , l had prepared two questions for our Senator.

(1) l wanted to know  what  she has been doing to help graduates in her Senatorial District .

(2) l wanted to know the plan she has for the students in  Senatorial District.

On getting to Abuja , it was her eldest son who is  now the pioneer  Commissioner for energy , Oyo State , Barr. Ashamu Temilou  that came  to welcome us .

We were lodged in one of  the beautiful and most expensive hotels in Abuja. And that night was a night of words. We ate , we gist , we drunk and had more funs.

On the following morning , we were all taken to Senator Monsurat's  office. We were 48 in number and she  was in a  hurry  to  receive the league of progressive youths from her senatorial district.

We got to her office at around 10 am . She welcomed us . She asked about our nights and if truly we had enjoyed  ourselves.

Before we begun a meeting with her ,  she took us to the lower chamber ( House of Reps ) to see the process involved in making laws . And again to educate us more about the legislative process.

Of course , we saw our honourables in action . We were able to see how effective they were through their contribution in the house.

It was there we realized that some of  our   honourables in the house are  as good as park managers.

We returned to her office around 11 o'clock and the meeting stated properly.

Everybody was asked to introduce themselves. While l was about to introduce myself , she was like ' Omo mi niyen o. ' Though he calls  himself Apostle , sugbon Asimiyu ni emi  mo si ooo.

The  introduction of myself to the whole gathering was very brief and terse. I was representing Akinyele Local Government , area of Oyo State. Although, there were  other three  comrades (Hon. Oiler , Comrade Owoade and Comrade Ojo) that came with me but mine was from student student constituency.

It was a serious debate gathering that day as  everybody present at the meeting gave birth to different  words that had been uneasy  their stomachs.

When it was my time to talk , don't forget l came with two prepared questions . l did not allow the previous funs to kill the two questions l had prepared for her.

'' Ma , let me on behalf of  my people(the invited youths ) thank you for this brilliant opportunity you have given to us. You have made history  today by gathering these set of youths for a development discourse  , and this act  shall be an evergreen in the political history of Nigeria.

Ma, l have two questions for you and these question go thus ;

Firstly ,  l want to know what and what you have been doing to help graduates in your Senatorial district ?

Secondly , having been  to different public school in Oyo State , l found out that some schools  need a quick intervention.

Some of these schools didn't have enough chairs and tables to facilitate teaching and learning process .

 Students are always sitting on  the floor whenever the teaching activity is going. How do we  expect  students in that situation to cope!

My question now is , what have you been doing to help those affected  schools in you senatorial district ? " l asked

While responding to all questions asked , she took her time to answer the two questions l had  asked her.

She ordered one of her legislative aides to step  forward with a big note  that contained the list of the  gathered unemployed youths from Oyo central Senatorial district.

She confessed openly that she has been moving from agency to another , from one office to another office to find out where job opportunities are . She therefore  advised that we should always use her name as referee whenever we see any job opportunity around.

On the issue of  chairs and tables  , she promised to do something about it as soon as possible.

We left Abuja the following morning. But before we left  , she took us to one of  the popular market in Abuja and every slim bag become  heavy  with  something tangible and special. She also traveled that long journey with us  by road .

We got to lbadan around 7pm and everybody went home peacefully.

Two weeks after , l got a  text from her son , Barr. Ashamu  that my request(Furniture) for the public schools  had been approved. That l should forward the cost of producing chairs and tables to some selected schools in  all the 11 local governments under Oyo Central Senatorial District.

I did just that. I consulted the nearby furniture companies and the cost    amount was told . l forwarded it to Senator Monsurat Sunmonu through her son and what l got the following day was credit alert and an approver to go ahead.

The chairs and tables were produced. And they  were taken to the chosen schools.

The above is one of my encounter with Senator Monsurat Sunmonu while  she was a  Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria .

The former Senator is a year older today . And my prayer for her  is to witness many more years on earth in sound health.

Igba Odun kan ni o.

Asimiyu Muhideen Abiodun ,
From Akinyele Local Government, Area of Oyo State.

Email : asimiyu.muhidee75@gmail.com

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