Olusola Saraki is a trained physician and politician from Ilorin who who holds the title of Tuiraki Ilorin. He was an elected senator representing Kwara central district in 1979 and was subsequently chosen senate leader. Prior to becoming a senator, he was a member of the 1977-1978 Constituent Assembly.
From 1981 to 1999, Saraki was a constant named dropped as having presidential ambitions and in 1992 and also in 1999, he publicly vied for the nation's topmost position.
His abode in Ilorin is a favorite stop for would be electoral contenders in the state and those out of state dropping by.
Early life and education
Saraki was born on May 17, 1933 in Ilorin. He attended Eko Boys High School, Lagos the Catham College of Technology, England, University of London, London, and St George's Hospital Medical School. In 1963, he joined the medical staff of the General Hospital, Lagos as a medical officer.
Political career
At the onset of the second republic, Saraki was a member of the 1977 Constituent Assembly and later contested in the Asa senatorial election. His victory in the Ilorin/Asa senatorial district in 1979 gave him a seat to the national assembly where he later rose to become the senate leader. In the said election, he scored about 61, 715 votes defeating his UPN rival who totaled about 18, 128 votes. It was at this time, that Saraki became Ilorin's most outstanding political figure but some critics claimed his hold on Ilorin voters was earned by largess distribution, promises, threats, manipulation, and his acceptance of the separate Asa and Moro local governments. Also during the period, the opposition leader, an Ijebu politician named Awolowo was not entirely trusted by Ilorin voters leading to unfavorable ratings for the UPN's Kwara gubernatorial candidate, Josiah Olawoyin.
However, towards the 1983 election Saraki had switched his support and was against the NPN governor, leading to his support for Awolowo, and eventually to victories for the UPN in state legislature districts helped buoyed by rural dissatisfaction with the performance of the governor, Adamu Attah.(1)
In the third democratic dispensation, he pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party contesting the party's presidential nomination and supporting the candidate from the Edu/Petegi region of the state, Shaaba Lafiagi. Lafiagi won the gubernatorial election, but Saraki did not fare well in in the presidential primary, the SDP's released results in 10 states showed him in fourth, trailing, Yar'Adua, Falae and Nzeribe.
During the Abacha transition program, he was a member of the Committee for National Consensus and was nursing presidential ambitions which were later curtailed largely due to the desire of Abacha to retain his post. During the 1994 Constitutional Conference, he was chairman of the important business committee.
In 1999, he saw his presidential hopes dimmed by the Mahmud Waziri led APP but was able to deliver the state government house to Mohammed Lawal, a former military administrator of Ogun state who had allied with Saraki in CNC and later APP.
Personal life
He married Morenike Saraki in 1962. Two of his children currently hold political positions, including the former governor of Kwara state.
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