IT was during the August 26, 2011, flood disaster in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital that Wakabout first noticed with keen interest, the dexterity of a young man at calming storms in the face of burning furnace.

He rolled up his sleeves and trousers, with a fez cap like an engineer on site, making several calls to those who could help him save lives from the ravaging flood. His efforts produced veteran divers, who dared the flood and rescued many victims from the flood disaster.

An encounter with the man whose personality is synonymous to the Biblical Samaritan revealed that he is Prince Ayodeji Abass Aleshinloye, the Chairman, Caretaker Committee, Oluyole Local Government Area, Oyo State.

He briefly told Wakabout: “Ti won ba fi eniyan je oye awodi, o gbodo le gbadiye (If a man is out in a position of authority he should live up to expectation). Why am I the chairman, if I cannot ensure the well-being of the people in my constituency? Anyway, I’m just doing my job and hobby, which are natural to me.”

He added: “I don’t believe in a sit-down-look style of administration; but being on the field, instructing and actively involved in same.”

Sometime during the recent protest against fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government, some youths on Adeoyo Road, Ibadan, who were seen with aggressiveness, burning tyres on the road, were later seen playing music, dancing and playing football on the road.

In a casual chat with Wakabout they attributed Prince Aleshinloye’s intevention to the rationale behind the new dimension to their protest.

According to them, he calmed them, enlightened them on the adverse effects of burning of tyres on roads and dramatically stopped them from the act.

One of the youths in the area, Rufus Adeoye said: “Aleshinloye is an exemplary leader, a pride of our generation, with laudable intelligence. The way he approached us, calmed us down and enlightened us on the adverse effects of what we were doing, was laudable, and that was why we laid it low. Then, we turned the protest to a fiesta; danced to melodious tunes; played football and enjoyed ourselves. We pray to have people like him at different levels of governance in Nigeria to propel rapid development.”

Kemi Akinsipe, yet another youth commended the strides of Aleshinloye at rising to every occasion in his constituency with the motive of protecting the people’s interest.

Wakabout’s experience of Abass Aleshinloye and other testimonies of him have proved him to be a good ambassador in governance.