April 3, 2015 – March 28th, 2015 will remain an indelible day in the lives of many in Lagos State. For many who are supporters of President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, it is indeed a lovely day but not for the family of Olakunle Adewale a Deputy Director with the Lagos State Government.
He died on that particular day with his associates, Olawale Mogaji, Gbolahan Mogaji, Muiz Bello and Shamsideen Agoro. They all died on their way from Ereshe, where they have gone to monitor the Presidential election. Ereshe is a riverine community in Epe, a Lagos suburb.
“They had volunteered themselves as election monitors to ensure that elections were conducted in an orderly and peaceful manner, especially in challenged terrains. They were not lucky, as their boat capsized at the lagoon, on their way back from Ereshe, a riverine community in Epe, where they had gone to monitor the presidential elections and they all lost their lives”, Abiodun Dina, a Public Relations Consultant, told our correspondent.
According to him, Prince Kunle Adewale, for instance, until his death was a Deputy Director with the Lagos State Government, while Mr. Wale Mogaji who recently relocated to Nigeria from the Republic of Ireland is a Public Relations Consultant. Mr. Gbolahan Mogaji, also only recently relocated from UK to Nigeria to contribute his quota to the development of Nigeria. Muiz Bello, on the other hand, resigned from his plum job at Chevron to venture into politics and was aspiring to be the Chairman of Epe Local Government.
“They have chosen to be different from the crowd who merely sit on the fence and complain about public affairs without acting and rather acted as change agents by advocating and canvassing their ideals, a posture that has infected a lot of hitherto apathetic and apolitical minds including me”, he said.
For Dina, as Nigerians celebrate the contributions of some political bigwigs such as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Rotimi Amaechi, amongst others, to the emergence of a formidable opposition which eventually culminated in the emergence of General Mohammed Buhari as presidential candidate and subsequently president elect, the least that can be done for these silent heroes and unseen hands in the struggle for authentic leadership in Nigeria, is to ensure that the ultimate sacrifice they have made in deepening democracy in Nigeria, is not in vain through the entrenchment of good governance”, he said.
