People all over the world are celebrating Fathers Day today, June 19. While many are using the opportunity to appreciate their dads for the love and care shown to them over the years, others are paying tributes to their fathers who are late.

It is the dream of every man that his son will surpass his achievements and indeed this is already happening in the Nigerian political firmament.

Overtime, many Nigerian politicians have groomed their sons to take over from them and inherit their political structures. While some have not reached the heights their dad attained, others have gone ahead to surpass the achievements of their fathers.

NAIJ.com lists five present day politicians who are following the footsteps of their fathers politically.

1. Bukola Saraki: Nigeria’s Senate president comes from a very powerful and influential political family that has held sway in Kwara state for over two decades. A medical doctor turned politician, Saraki inherited his father’s political structure after he became governor of Kwara state and went ahead to assert his authority and indeed improve on the evergreen legacies of his dad – Oloye Olusola Saraki, who was elected a senator of the second republic in 1979, and became Senate leader. The junior Saraki has gone a step further than his dad and is now Nigeria’s number three citizen.

2. Senator Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako: He is the incumbent senator representing Adamawa Central Senatorial District. His father, Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), is the former governor of the state, former military governor of Niger state and former Chief of Naval Staff. Indeed, Senator Abdul-Aziz is stepping into the big shoes of his dad.  Following in the footsteps of his dad, in his early days, he spent time at the Air Force Military School, Jos Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) and Britania Royal Naval College (Dartmouth), United Kingdom. Currently, he is one of the best senators in the upper chamber due to his passion for youth empowerment in his constituency.

3. Jubril Folajimi Mohammed: He is the son of Nigeria’s information minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. He is currently a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Ikeja I Constituency. Folajimi studied law, and obtained both first degree in law (LLB) and Masters Degree (LLM) and was subsequently called to the bar (BL). Before his foray into politics, he was the managing director of Knightsbridge Dredging Limited based in Lagos. Folajimi is following the footsteps of his dad who has distinguished himself in politics, first as the national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and now the spokesman of the Nigerian government.

4. Dapo Lam Adeshina: His late father will be proud of him. He is gradually stepping into his dad’s shoes and at the rate he is going, he is likely to surpass his father’s achievements. Dapo has imbibed Late Pa Adeshina’s generosity and ability to carry the people along. He is the former Oyo state commissioner for industry, applied science and technology then later youths and sports and currently representing Ibadan North East/ South East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. His late father, Alhaji Lamidi Ona-Olapo Adesina was the executive governor of Oyo state from 1999 to 2003.

5.  Femi Fani-Kayode: His father, Victor Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode was a prominent political figure in Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the minister of local government and chieftaincy affairs and later deputy premier of the Western Region of Nigeria from 1963 until 1966. Femi has filled his father’s shoes effectively as he is a former special assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and a two time minister also under the Obasanjo administration. Fani-Kayode is known for his deep insight of Nigeria’s politics and is also constant commentator on the state of affairs in Nigeria


Read more: https://www.naij.com/865207-fathers-day-5-prominent-nigerian-politicians-following-dads-footsteps.html