Our father, Obafemi Awolowo, was an unrelenting searcher for information and knowledge about his society, country and world. A philosopher, a man of consistent efficiency and steadily high ideals in his private and public life, a man of titanic courage, an accomplished development planner, an endowed nation builder, an astute administrator, a great motivator, a wonderful leader of men and, above all, an inspired and inspiring teacher. It is one of the greatest joys of my life that, in my generation of Nigerian youths, I belonged to the select group of youths who were privileged to be close to Chief Awolowo as to a father, who were fortunate to learn at his feet, and who were called upon, under his leadership, to attempt great exploits towards the improvement of the quality of the lives of our people, and towards the prosperity and greatness of our country.

Chief Awolowo remains very much alive today, because his legacy continues to impact the lives of millions of his countrymen for good. Chief Awolowo introduced Free Primary Education in the Western Region. Most of the men and women who are senior professors, senior administrators, senior statesmen, senior engineers, senior architects, senior lawyers and so on in our Southwest today, are so because Chief Awolowo opened the door of schools to all children from 1955 and above in our Western Region. All these senior citizens are parents of highly educated families that today occupy very important places in the life of our region, our country, and other countries worldwide – families that will, probably many centuries from now, continue to be important in the lives of our communities and of the world.

The gift of Free Education was the greatest single gift given by Chief Awolowo to his people, but it was not the only gift. Under his leadership, the only aspirant in the history of Ogun State to follow the footsteps and legacies of the *_Free Education Messiah_* among all contenders is no other person than*Otunba Olatunde Rotimi Paseda*. A man with golden heart, a philanthropist, an astute leader per excellence. A man, who broke records recently, by organising free holiday coaching exercise with free writing materials (notebooks and biros) for pupils from primary to secondary school level during the last holiday, cutting across all the 3 Senatorial Districts.

The man who set up a N10M free- interest loan for petty traders through Paseda Women's Forum (PWF) recently to relieve them from poverty and to make them self- reliant. Among others, is the facilitation of banking system for the Omu Ijebu community in Ogun State via heritage Bank, for cash transactions and access to loans. His four cardinal programmes: Qualitative Education, Health Facilities, Urban and Regional Development and Youth Empowerment program will touch the lives of the prevailing masses and rekindle their lost hope without any iota of diffidence.

Otunba Olatunde Rotimi Paseda always gives emphasis to the need for leaders and rulers to respect their people. In conversations with the young ones like me, he would often say, “You must always take care to respect our people. If any of you find yourself in a governing position over any of our people, your first line of survival and success is to respect them. They may be illiterate and poor, but they are members of ancient civilization and they are more understanding than you think. If you are arrogant and overbearing, they will find ways to stop you – and those ways may hurt your further chances. You must take care to explain things to them, and you must not falsely promise them what you know you cannot do. It is disrespectful to do that. Whatever you do as a ruler, do it with our people, don’t merely do it for them. We are not foreigners ruling our people, we are their kith and kin. Make sure to enhance their feeling of self-respect”.

Without infinitesimal sentiments, Paseda is the only aspirant who will put an end to poverty in Ogun State come 2019.

By Solanke Ayomideji TaiwoTaiwo.

Do they also produce rat poison in ogun state?