Yayi: From Ilaro’s Altar to Oke Mosan’s Door

Kunle Somorin writes about the 2026 annual thanksgiving service held in Ilaro for the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Olamilekan Adeola,  ahead of the 2027 gubernatorial poll in the Gateway State.

The first Saturday of 2026 found the Cathedral Church of Christ in Ilaro awash in a sapphire sky that soon yielded a cleansing rain. Stained‑glass windows threw a kaleidoscope of colour across the pews, where Ogun’s political and cultural aristocracy sat shoulder‑to‑shoulder with ordinary parishioners. The heavy perfume of incense rose in tandem with a chorus of hymns, while the steady thrum of drums set a heartbeat for the gathering. The congregation swayed between reverence and celebration, aware that this was no ordinary thanksgiving.

It was the 22nd annual thanksgiving of Senator Olamilekan Adeola – a ritual he has turned into a political runway since his deliberate entry into public service. Yet this year the liturgy bore the weight of prophecy.

Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Revd, Michael Oluwarounbi, robed in white and gold, delivered a homily that turned Scripture into a manifesto for the present. “Solomon was a king who built a temple and ruled with wisdom,” he intoned, “and today we see in our own Solomon, Senator Adeola, a man called to build, to empower, and to lead. This thanksgiving is not merely gratitude – it is a signpost of destiny.”

The words rippled through the nave, casting Adeola’s career in a holy light that no campaign billboard could muster. It was a divine endorsement – an imprimatur that politics alone cannot manufacture.

The nave was a who’s‑who of Nigerian power. Senator Saliu Mustapha of Kwara Central; Deputy Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, Hon. Isiaka Ibrahim; Minister of State for Health, Dr Isiaq Salako; Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle; former Deputy Governor, Segun Adesegun; ex‑Speaker, Kunle Oluomo; together with commissioners, lawmakers and community leaders, filled the rows. Their presence was more than attendance; it was tacit approval.

As one guest whispered from the courtyard, “This is more than a thanksgiving; it is Ogun’s politics rehearsed in liturgy.”

Outside, the solemnity of the service spilled onto the streets of Ilaro and later at Asade Agunloye Pavillion, formely called Empire Parade Ground. Drummers beat vibrant rhythms, dancers swirled in colourful attire, mostly the state colours of yellow and white, children laughed in the courtyard, and an abundance of food flowed among the guests. The thanksgiving became a carnival, a reminder that Nigerian politics is as much about visibility and presence as it is about power.

When Senator Adeola rose to speak, his words blended heartfelt thanks with a forward‑looking manifesto. He began with concrete promises, praising both President Bola Tinubu and Governor Dapo Abiodun who, he said, facilitated his seamless return to home, to Ilaro to continue his public service from his erstwhile base in Lagos: “Along the Sokoto‑Badagry Expressway, 66 dams will rise. When that road is completed, President Tinubu will have forged a new Nigeria and a new economy. I am a living testimony to the President’s work.”

He then recalled the president’s removal of fuel subsidies, a policy he claimed saved the nation over N10 trillion a year: “In two years the subsidy was scrapped, cutting a leech that drained our economy. As Chairman of Finance I saw the borrowed funds redirected to roads, dams, and futures.” The applause that followed was spontaneous; for many in the congregation the senator’s figures were not abstract statistics but tangible relief.

The speech also carried the language of the supposed Thanksgiving brochure, where, on page 13, he outlined “My Vision for Ogun State.” On a whole page, he declared, “We see with clarity the vision and foresight of where Ogun State should be in the near future. Every step we take will shape a greater tomorrow, where our people enjoy shared prosperity, sustainable growth, and opportunities that match their aspirations. Our State will become the model of progress we have envisioned, and together, we will build a greater future for the Gateway State.” By echoing those words on the altar, Adeola stitched his political agenda to a sermon of destiny.

Throughout the service he displayed an accountability profile not only aimed at the people of Ogun West Senatorial District, but in foreshadowing things to come State-wide, if elected governor next year.

In a slide‑show of over 200 photographs he narrated, “We have taken steps to deliver tangible dividends of democracy across Ogun West, guided by our shared commitment to inclusive development, effective representation, and the welfare of the people… As we look ahead, I pray that the new year brings peace, good health, renewed hope, and greater opportunities to every home across Ogun West. Together, we will continue to build a future we can all be proud of.” The visual record of roads, health centres, schools, scholarships and empowerment projects that he has facilitated over the past two and a half years reinforced the claim that his gratitude was grounded in deeds.

Adeola’s thanksgiving was indeed anchored in visible deeds. Artisans received sewing machines and toolkits; petty traders were granted micro‑loans to expand their stalls; youths benefitted from vocational‑training programmes. At cultural milestones such as Isaga Day and the Iganmode Festival, he reaffirmed his commitment to tourism and heritage, positioning Yewa’s identity as a national asset. A constituent summed the sentiment succinctly: “Yayi has given our children hope, our traders strength, our artisans dignity.”

Perhaps the most enduring legacy is the Yayi Scholarship Programme, which has financed hundreds of indigent students across universities, polytechnics and nursing colleges. One beneficiary, a medical student from Ilaro, testified, “Without Senator Adeola’s scholarship I would have dropped out. Today I’m in my final year, and I owe it all to him.” These scholarships sow loyalty, nurture talent, and embed Adeola’s name in the aspirations of a generation.

Ogun politics has long been a tug‑of‑war among Egba, Ijebu and Yewa factions. For decades Yewa has felt sidelined while Egba and Ijebu sons dominated the governorship. Adeola’s cathedral ceremony was therefore more than a personal rite; it was a reclamation of Yewa’s place in the state’s power equation. The regal bearing of the Olu of Ilaro signalled ethnic solidarity, while Senator Afikuyomi’s Lagos connections highlighted metropolitan alliances and Minister Salako’s technocratic aura suggested Abuja’s approval.

Together they formed a tableau of support that positioned Adeola at the crossroads of faith, geography and governance. After the service an elder reflected, “For years, Yewa has waited. Today, in this cathedral, we see that our time has come.”

The bishop’s repeated invocation of Solomon was a calculated metaphor. Solomon was not merely a king; he was the builder of the Temple, a steward of wisdom and a symbol of enduring legacy. By equating Adeola with Solomon, the clergy offered a narrative that linked dams to monuments of permanence, roads to arteries of commerce and scholarships to foundations of enduring knowledge. “Wisdom builds. Wisdom leads. Wisdom endures. May our Solomon be guided to serve with wisdom,” the bishop intoned, a benediction that lingered long after the choral hymns faded.

2026 stands as a hinge year for Ogun politics – a moment when scaffolding is tested, ambition meets arithmetic and citizens weigh promises against daily hardship.

Adeola’s thanksgiving, replete with pageantry, empowerment projects and a quasi‑spiritual seal, is a micro‑cosm of that pivotal moment. Whether the electorate embraces his vision of dams as destiny, subsidy removal as salvation, empowerment as evidence and scholarships as legacy will decide if the door of Oke Mosan opens for him in 2027.

In the echo of the cathedral’s arches, the bishop’s invocation of Solomon remains, a divine endorsement that politics alone cannot eclipse – yet only the people can ultimately affirm.