Though the man was said to have been terminally ill for some time and the rumour of his death, earlier in the year, spread like a wild fire, his eventually passage in the early hours of 14 November, caught unaware, not quite a few people in the nation's political circle.

The late Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, was indeed, until his death, one of the few prominent and influential politicians ever produced in Nigeria. Hated by some, he nonetheless represented the quintessential political godfather who succeeded in installing virtually all the who-is-who in the politics of Kwara State. Until his death, he was a colossus who dominated Kwara politics and largely influenced the choice of governs the state, right from the Second Republic.

A remarkable turning point in his advent in politics was in 1977 when he was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 Federal Constitution. With the advent of democratic civil rule in 1979, the late Dr Saraki was elected a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the Second Republic on the ticket of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He was also said to have had played a significant role in the emergence of the late Alhaji Adamu Attah as the governor of old Kwara State.

As a member of the National Assembly during the Second Republic, the late Turakin of Ilorin enjoyed tremendous goodwill among his colleagues, cutting across the then five political parties in the land. His popularity and acceptance across the political divides was manifested in his being elected as the Senate Leader, even when his party was not the majority political party in the Senate between 1979 and 1983. He was a strong force in directing the Senate and his contributions to debates on the floor were widely acknowledged to be qualitative. As a demonstration of his domineering influence in party politics, the late Saraki, though a member of the NPN, pitched his tent with the then governorship candidate of the rival Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in the 1983 elections.

His decision was as a result of an unresolved crisis between him and the incumbent Governor Adamu Attah, who he had helped to win the election in 1979. The UPN candidate eventually emerged as the Kwara State governor after the 1983 elections.

In recognition of his robust and meaningful contributions to debates in the National Assembly and, by extension, the growth of legislative business, the seventh Senate, few days after the demise of Saraki (precisely on 20 November), passed a resolution asking the Federal Government to immortalise the late Senate Leader by naming the Ilorin International Airport after him. The resolution, sponsored by the incumbent Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, was sequel to the adoption of an additional prayer moved by Senator Smart Adeyemi to that effect. Senator Ndoma-Egba also suggested a 12-man delegation, to be led by him, to pay a condolence visit to the family of the late senator, the government and people of Kwara State.

The motion was unanimously supported by other senators. The Senate paid glowing tributes to the late politician who, incidentally, held the enviable record of having two of his children as members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly in the current political dispensation. Senator Gbemi Saraki was a member of the sixth Senate, while Dr Bukola Saraki, the immediate past governor of Kwara State, presently heads a committee in the Red Chamber. Beside the motion seeking the immortalisation of the late charismatic politician, members of the current Senate brought their oratorical power to bear, as they variously spoke eloquently of the departed, eulogising his contributions to the growth of democracy.

The originator of the prayer which sought to immortalise the late politician, Senator Adeyemi, described the late Senate Leader as a bridge-builder between the North and the South and between Yorubas in Kwara and Kogi. According to Adeyemi, the late Dr Saraki, more than anybody else, apart from the late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola, contributed immensely to the overall development of Kogi and Kwara states and indeed Nigeria.

Moving the motion entitled "Demise of Senator (Dr) Olusola Saraki", Senator Ndoma-Egba said: "He used consensus to keep the Senate together throughout the Second Republic. His negotiating skills made him easily the most powerful individual in the Senate of that republic. This he achieved, though his party, the NPN, did not enjoy an outright majority in the Senate.

"His charismatic personality till date defined the office of Senate Leader and gave it character, many years after he left the office as he remains easily the best and most known Senate Leader. His commitment to his native Kwara State, national integration and philanthropy is legendary. He remained the only Nigerian in our history with the unprecedented achievement of having two senators, both in the same republic; Senators Gbemi and Bukola Saraki and a governor of his home state, Kwara State, from his biological children.

"Saraki was a selfless and detribalised Nigerian whose entire life was dedicated to the service of humanity and whose life represented the interest and yearnings of the poor. He was fair and just, simple and great, incredible but true, gentle but powerful. Oloye's life was that of honesty, enviable courage and sincerity." For Senators Abdul Ningi, James Manager and Simon Ajibola, the late Senate Leader was a great man and indeed a role model for most politicians and a loving and forgiving politician. Senator Olusola Adeyeye, among several others, noted that while he did not agree with the politics of the late Dr Sarak Charging the junior Saraki and Nigerians to emulate the legacies of the late Saraki which he said was built on integrity and honour, he said, "Oloye never acted nor pretended in any vocation he engaged in. He lived naturally and brought up people in politics and other areas of our lives. We should not mourn him as if he died without a legacy. Rather, today's pretenders on the political scene should learn to live naturally and leave behind legacies that would form guiding principles for the younger generations." He urged Senator Saraki to continue from where his father stopped, adding, "He has trained you in every area of his interest and I believe you can touch the lives of all Kwarans just as your father did."

In his response, Senator Saraki described the visit and condolence message of the Senate President as very uplifting. He said the Senate President, as the political leader of the North-Central zone, was the chief mourner of his father's death, assuring that Kwara State would continue to work for the peace and unity of the country. Indeed, while the late influential politician had left the scene, the general consensus is that the man had left a big vacuum, having made his impact and contributions to the political development of Kwara State, nay the entire country. It remains to be if those he left behind, as charged by Senator Mark, would be able to sustain the tempo.