By Abubakar Mustapha Onide (Al-Mustapha Alaso)
Perhaps, contrary to public guess, my relationship with Olayiwola Karatu was completely awesome. He is a big leader, an outstanding one for that matter. He is a mentor, a guide both in personal and public life to many people here in Alanamu-Ajikobi Constituency, and a very loyal political reformer.
He radiates loyalty – reciprocal or not. In my own case, in fact, I believe he is more loyal to his people than they are to him. What makes that bond very natural is that his Dad, the late Baba Karatu was also loyal to his people while he was alive.
Late Alhaji Sulyman Baba Karatu himself was a father figure (I wish I could tell the entire story here) who gave hope to the hopeless, he gave opportunity to a lot of people in different ways, the opportunity to not only succeed but to make impacts in life. So, how Mallam Olayiwola Karatu is a Leader which is unequivocal. The bond between him and his people is beyond political interest or gains.
He is to Alanamu-Ajikobi and millions of others, an exceptional human being ahead of his time and an exemplary one just like the late Baba Karatu. This means he is Baba Karatu incarnate.
But if I can distil him into one word, he is an enigma. Olayiwola Karatu is a twenty-first-century builder, local builder, a democracy warrior with the farthest vision.
If given the mandate of Ajikobi-Alanamu State Constituency in 2023 he will be the architect of a new modern day of Ilorin North/West in representative, infrastructural development initiatives and human capital development; hardworking and competent. On these qualities, I have known him for, I take a personal pride in the fact that no mediocre or hero-worshipper can survive for too long around him.
Mallam Olayiwola Karatu leadership acumen cut across all ramifications. He is popularly called Amazon. His leadership is entirely formed by his passion for human development, most especially his immediate constituents, the people of Ajikobi-Alanamu, and the leadership that is unmatched with any persons or group of persons that had surpassed any one that I have ever seen in my entire life journey.
To speak more about leadership, Olayiwola Karatu is honest and loyal to a fault. He is shrewd yet very open to superior opinions. He is a good listener, extremely focused, hardworking and, above all, undauntedly passionate about Kwarans’ development. Am sure many people in my community (ALANAMU) will confirmed all what I said about him cos he has already served the community in many way,Karatu is the Treasurer of ALANAMU YOUTH ELITE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (AYEDA)for the past 8years till today..
I have never seen or hear him take decisions without inputs from his people. He is a strong fighter against injustice. So, he is not a very good adversary to look for.
Olayiwola Karatu is a man that God will use to create and sustaining the systems for the teeming masses of Alanamu-Ajikobi and others in the parts of the State. He dwells on the development of people across all spectrums.
He has a huge knack for philanthropy, a trait which he obviously picked from his father, Baba Karatu. This is what makes him thick, legendary and, of course, the major cause of the void in Ilorin North/West today.
No one dares to compete with him philanthropic gestures and politics because of his wide exposures in the management of human resources that he had exhibited through his humanitarian activities.
And a new dawn will soon break in Ajikobi-Alanamu State Constituency. A dawn of fresh air, which shall blow across the length and breadth of the state of the living spring. And the great people of Alanamu-Ajikobi, shall by the grace of God and Electoral process, have Mallam Olayiwola Karatu as a servant-leader in the true sense of it.
The journey to the exalted seat as a member of Kwara State House of Assembly shall be smoothened by the grace of God . The waiting shall not be long, and the good people of Alanamu-Ajikobi will have cause to smile, that the voice of the people, is indeed the voice of God.
Sulyman Olayiwola Karatu in the course of his political career so far, has passed through the crucible fire and came out untainted; unscratched.
Karatu is imbued with the resolve to use his God-given wisdom, a good heart and caring soul to move Alanamu-Ajikobi and his people many miles ahead of its peers as so far demonstrated with his humanitarian services.
This is achievable with pragmatic and workaholic leader like Olayiwola Karatu, who will not shy away from availing Ajikobi-Alanamu constituents his wealth of experience.
There would be a representative, which will come with a development blueprint that will send jitters around Kwara when by God’s grace and with my votes and your votes, he arrives at the seat of power in a most determined way, that will make him detractors grow with envy and crave to join his team for the overall development of Kwara State.
The good people of Ilorin North/West are resilient and focused people, only waiting for a leader, who will turn their dream into reality, from the present state of inertness, that they unwarrantedly found themselves, owing to no fault of theirs.
Again, the waiting shall not be long. They will have the last laugh, which is the best laugh. Let them continue to remain steadfast, resolute and painstaking in their prayers for the grace of God, vote and protect your vote for that’s the only way to see this big dream comes to reality.
A vote for Olayiwola Karatu is a vote for Development
