• Adebunmi Williams

In contemporary public affairs, it is usual to have the ingratiating tendencies of political actors rewarded with offices as opposed to capacity to deliver results. More often than not, it is a rarity to have a fellow combine robust mettle, intellectual finesse and guts. Even where there is a recognizable intellect, it is unlikely that the one who possesses the knack would have the grit to tangibly assert it.

It is one commonplace undoing that has hampered our system and hinders it from delivering definite results. The reasons for the deficits are not few; they partly depend on the capacity of leadership for discernment and the corresponding courage to assemble deserving talents while delibrately fortifying them to full expression. The flip side is for an office holder to make conscious efforts toward justifying the task given.

Judging by the list of talents aboard, it is a given that the Akeredolu-led administration has demonstrated the right measure of capacity in identifying, enlisting and assigning deserving hands to specific governmental roles. It is on the list of rare talents in the state that the lady who answers Olamide Falana stoutly sits. She belongs in the ranks of the few outstanding talents that adorn this government with evident prowess.

Falana, who mans the state’s gender desk has, in many ways, proven herself to be a value addition. And this is no spurious stance but one espoused high scores in the handling of gender interests in consonance with the avowed gender-friendly policies of Governor Akeredolu. In concrete terms, her acts and harvests give resounding credence. When weighed against the worth of works, it becomes palpable that the Apoi-born amazon has since acted her status as a fellow with sure-footed understanding of her assignment.

Apart from the serial distinction that her office has become synonymous with, close watchers of governance have admittedly acknowledged to her graphic mastery of the gender theme and the mileage she has since covered with her charge. From her unyeilding dedication to the affairs of the girl child in the state, to her steady attention to the matters of women, she has left none in doubt of her preparation for the task and the penchant for performance.

A polity is not always lucky to have this mould of firebrand who has consistently been making instructive statements with gifts and guts. In a clime where a preponderance parade charade as substance, Falana came into public service with a credible credential and has since justified same with a plethora gains for citizens who have been lucky enough to be reached by her strides. Armed with consummate courage of conviction, she daily wrought sterling strides.

Through deeds, she daily reinforces the notion that women are differently woven; an impression her conducts have validated beyond the realm of contest. The first to be saddled with such critical and pivotal assignment as gender roles in Ondo State, she is busy defying daunting odds and bringing rare incarnation to the political space while delivering a graphic difference. The dumbfounding testimonies of the successes recorded with gender-based violence signpost her resolve to place the state on a lofty pedestal.

For Falana, leadership is about responsibilities; hence her office has been a beehive of beneficial activities for folks; conceiving and devising means of empowerment for women, youth and the vulnerable classes. She extends opportunities to all kinds, regardless of social, religious, political or physical abilities; and, in so doing, creating a more equitable society that the Akeredolu-led administration rigorously pursues.

The other day, to the chagrin of many, she organised and supervised the At-Risk Children Project on behalf of the federal government with evident results; the programme targets the vulnerable children and young adults with the aim of improving their general welfare while equipping them with literacy and skills. It turned out relatively as a huge success in Ondo state because it was coordinated by a brilliant mind that Olamide typifies.

The Tech-n-LEAD programme was another striking innovation from the state’s gender staple which was aimed at harnessing the potentials of young boys with a view to taking advantage of the sundry technological benefits offered by the advancement of the 21st century vis-à-vis building leadership skills in young male adults and ultimately enabling them to be self-reliant and useful to themselves instead being negatively distracted or taking to crime.

These feats notwithstanding, she does so much in private capacity to make life more livable for the underdogs. To her credit, the indigent young ones are taken off the streets and kept in schools for better prospects; girl children are guided unto credible routes to rising beyond premordial estimations. On the whole, the gender fight, her forte, has found a voice in the state; a loud one at that. Let her tribe multiply.