It was at the G3 political meeting in Abuja, and there seated was Sen. Gbemisola Saraki. Elegant, radiant and level-headed, she sat and listened throughout the session, except of course the occasional fiddling with her phones.

From Dr. L. A. K. Jimoh to Alhaji Salman Alada, from Barrister Jawondo to Deacon John Dara, virtually all the speakers had one or two disparaging remarks about the Saraki brand (no thanks to Dr. Bukola Saraki).

Right under her nose, her blood brother, the one she grew up with, was being heckled left, right and centre. The speakers didn’t pity her at all; they looked straight into her eyes and damned the consequences! And there she was, raising no hand in objection!

But the real shocker didn’t come until she had the floor. Just shortly before she held the microphone, the hall was already soaked in fear and tension. Would she walk away in anger? What would she say? How would she respond to the stingy remarks of especially LAK Jimoh against the Sarakis?

How could she possibly defend her brother in the face of facts and figures of unbridled graft and deliberate misgovernance that defined the latter’s eight year stint in office?

But surprisingly, she held the audience spellbound. It was clear that it was her voice almost everyone gathered in there was itching to hear. And there I was, motionless, breathless, as if I had not listened to a speech as captivating. Pragmatic, consistent, blunt yet level-headed, it was but a rare moment in political maturity. She was short of admitting all the allegations of graft and unbridled political oppression that characterised the eight year tenure of Dr. Bukola Saraki.

First, she is pragmatic; in virtually all her endeavours, the reality of her personal capabilities and even limitations frames her actions. She has an accurate view of who she is, what she wants and the means of getting it. And it is that pragmatic worldview, the fact of her understanding her very essence in life that sparks what she does as a politician and a leader.

A natural subset of pragmatism is honesty and transparency. Gbemi is honest to herself and transparent to her subjects. She is unapologetically candid in her words, thoughts and deeds. If you have ever had the privilege of a close contact with her, you would know she harbours no hidden motivation or tangential reasons for her actions.

She looks for and works to develop the best in the people around her, either as friends, associates or subjects. She is committed not to perfection, but rather to excellence in her own life as well as the lives of people in and around her. That’s why if you ask an average domestic staff of Gbemi where he or she would like to work in another life, they won’t mince words in picking their choice. They tell you life can’t get better anywhere else!

Gbemi is a life-long learner; she is a book worm, and take my words for it, a prolific writer too.

And her legendary generosity! This trait almost dwarfs others already enunciated. She is generous to a fault. She gives without looking back. Until lately, I didn’t know she had scores of promising Kwara sons and daughters spread across the globe, whose education she single-handedly sponsors.

But what manner of a human being is this lady? How many in the womenfolk forgoes filial relationships for personal principle? How many of them can refuse to be blackmailed into submitting to the caprices of a ‘bloodied’ brother?

There are many reasons as to why her kind of human species tend to be scarce, particularly in a clime like this. The reasons are not far-fetched. A society like our own demands conformity (and blind conformity it is). And any individual in such a society, that decides to act with a ‘strange’ sense of purpose, to do what is right regardless of the consequences, are easily spotted and ‘casted out’.

But she didn’t just drop from the sky, she is a creation of nature like you and I. She evolved and developed, having been nurtured under a legendary political tutelage. Her getting to this level, I’m sure is not complicated, but it is also not easy either. Standing for what is right, especially if one is standing all alone as she is doing, can be unsettling. This is why she is rare and endangered.

But my vast lessons in leadership and statecraft have taught that such could be worth the trouble after all.

If my guess is right, by now she would at least have come to terms with her true self, done away with pretence, and now acting on a sense of purpose and a set of values that she willingly sets for herself, without let or hindrance. An additional benefit is that since authentic leaders attract to them authentic followers, followers notice, they are attracted, and they appreciate the difference between her and others.

Thus, as is with all endangered species, a commodity like Gbemi must be nurtured and protected instead of being ‘casted out’. The earlier the opposition group in the state realises that Gbemi is highly indispensable in this struggle the better. The fact that she has passed through this road before is an added advantage. Her legendary generosity, mobilization spirit and huge connections to the movers and shakers in the country are but assets the opposition can’t do without.