Senator (Engineer) Yisa Braimoh (aka Uncle YB) the Seriki Musulumi of Afenmai Land in Edo state and the Osiozoikhai of Auchi Kingdom also in Edo, has attained 80 years on earth and has majestically sauntered into the pantheon of Octogenarians in our nation where life expectancy, according to United Nation’s projections, excluding impacts of COVID-19 virus, is 55.44 years.
A great excitement has enveloped Seriki’s immediate family members who have arranged for a convergence of friends, political associates and well wishers on his Asokoro, Abuja residence on Friday, August 12, 2022, for a three-fold programme designed to mark the occasion, to wit: Islamic prayers and breakfast; sharing fellowships with the less privileged residents of Halal Orphanage Home in the afternoon; and, entertainment of family members and friends in his expansive Abuja home in the evening into the early night.
The Seriki has every reason to celebrate. Through the grace of the Almighty God, he has lived so far a life of self fulfilment, albeit, not without experiencing some vicissitudes. Overall, on a scale of one to ten, he is, in my fair knowledge of him and opinion, rated between eight and ten in existential satiation. Godiya to the Almighty, he is largely healthy and comfortable in the evening of his life.
Uncle YB has defined his eon as a politicians’ politician, who has surmounted the odds to carve a niche for himself in Nigeria’s cloak-and-dagger politics. His beautifully designed and distinctive caps with “YB”, an acronym for Yisa Braimoh, always embroidered on them, remain his own way of constructing and defining an avuncular and/ or leadership identity association and validation for himself. That character basically feeds his charisma and panache in their vast flourish, with implications for unswerving cult-like political followership and loyalty in his home base-Ihievbe.
YB has also been able to come up as a resilient player on the political terrain in Edo state and on the national political scene. His political involvements, engagements and exertions had historically crystallised and culminated in his membership of the Senate in the sixth National Assembly from 2007 to 2011 during which time he represented Edo North Senatorial District. Significantly, at that intersection, his loyalty to some extended interests had pitched him against the senate leadership under the presidency of Senator David Mark. He had voted for Senator George Akume at the expense of his friend, Mark, on the floor of the Senate on June 5, 2007. The Senate leadership thereafter ensured he was not patronised for his decision.
But his political voyage before his engagement in the senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had also been a roller coaster of sorts: he was a running mate to Chief Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion in the 1991 governorship election on the platform of the National Republican Convention (NRC). That election was won by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun on the platform of the defunct Social democratic Party (SDP). The loss did not dampen his spirit nor did it cause him to review his further investments of energy, time and resources in politics.
In the interval that followed the loss, he was appointed Special Adviser to the Minister of Transport and Aviation in 1993 and Special Adviser to the Minister of Power and Steel in 1994. Thereafter, he had emerged, once again, under the Genersl Sani Abacha transition programme as one of the strategic leaders of the National Conscience Party of Nigeria (NCPN), between 1995 and 1997, collaborating with the likes of Chief Don Etiebet and the late former deputy governor of Kano state, Alhaji Abdullahi Magaji, to prop up the party in support of the presidential ambition of Etiebet, which he (Etiebet) had to drop due to a real threat to his life by those working on the transmutation agenda of Abacha to a civilian president.
With the advent of the current Fourth Republic, YB pitched his tent with the PDP, providing leadership in his Edo North senatorial district. Before his election to the Senate in 2007, he was appointed member of the Board of Directors of the National Maritime Authority (NMA) in 2000 and Chairman of the Governing Board of NYSC in 2005. In the Senate, he was deputy chairman of the Committee on Tourism, Culture and National Orientation. He was also a member of the Committees on Communication as well as National Planning, Integration and Cooperation in Africa. His contributions in plenary and committee sittings were robust.
In 2014, he was appointed a member of the National Conference, where he also added perspectives to such issues as the indissolubility of Nigeria, cost of governance, fiscal federalism/resource control, devolution of powers, independent candidature, citizenship, and minority rights, among others. With the defeat of his party in the 2015 presidential election, YB has largely retreated to his home base in Ihievbe, engrossed in the business of grassroots political mobilisation aimed at rebuilding a solid, winning PDP machinery from the local level.
Today, the never-say-die YB is playing a leading role in the affairs of the PDP both in Edo State and somewhat at the national level. Having assisted in the PDP victory in Edo in the 2020 governorship election, he is now devoting his wherewithal to the process of ensuring that the PDP wins back presidential power.
Besides, he has also continued to deploy his vast engineering knowledge, which saw him occupy, at different intersections, top positions at the defunct Nigerian Airways, and the goodwill in politics, in the advancement of his business concerns. With this, he has been able to secure a life of comfort for himself in the evening of his life, such that he could remain committed to his service of man and God through charitable works.
YB was educated as an engineer at the University of Western Ontario, Canada in 1982; Cranefield Institute of Technology, Cranefield in the United Kingdom in 1981 and at the Engineering College, Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom from 1969-1970. Understandably, he is a pragmatist in politics and business. Self-respecting, he is imbued with a great deal of sagacity. He is no doubt brilliant in his articulation of issues of governance, public administration and political engineering. He is always restless about success once specific goals have been set.
YB would put himself and those who are game with him in such pursuit(s) on their toes. That is his defining nature. I can testify to that as a “captive” of his restless disposition to accomplish set tasks or objectives. In delivering on my task to ventilate his ideas or positions in the media, and in fact in my other media interventions not in anyway related to him, he has consistently expressed his approbation about my writing craft. Uncle YB has been my cheer leader, nudging me to keep up the tempo. This is wishing the Seriki and Osiozoikhai a happy birthday. May the Almighty God bless both the years in his life and the life in his years with His grace.
● Ojeifo contributed this piece via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com
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