For Senator Gbenga Bareehu Ashafa, senator representing Lagos East at the national assembly, it is time to close a chapter on a long and rewarding journey. In a few weeks time, the two-term assemblyman will step down, along with his fellow non-returning members of the 9th senate, to be replaced by new faces starting out on their own journeys.
Senator Ashafa will see in their expectant faces the enthusiasm that coursed through him like a hot spring the first time he stepped into the hallowed chambers of lawmaking. And though he has encountered many twists and turns along the way, he has always stayed true to his conscience and his course. His love for service never waned, nor did his fire for an egalitarian society. It was in pursuit of those ideals that he fought tooth and nail to give the people of Lagos East the best representation they could have dreamed of. It is on record that several organizations have adjudged him the best of the Lagos representatives in Abuja in terms of project delivery to constituencies.
Charming yet steady like a sturdy oak, but still willing to bend to the winds as occasion demands, Senator Ashafa is the epitome of a graceful public servant unmoored from the do-or-die mentality that sounded the death knell for many a promising career. He is an old hand at playing the long game. Having read the stars, he withdrew himself from the race for APC Lagos East candidate, exchanging short term gain for lasting praise in the process.
While his colleagues from Lagos West and Lagos Central America have Oluremi Tinubu and Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, easily clinched return tickets, Ashafa was the odd one out. But he did not mourn or kick or wage guerrilla warfare against the powers that be. He accepted the outcome for the greater good of the party and went on to play an instrumental role as Lagos APC conquered all the available slots during the national assembly elections. The thirst for service remains ever present. There are already rumbles that he has been pencilled down for one role or the other at the federal level.
