Dr Adetola Ariyike Salau: Outstanding Kwara SA Education with a Motherly Approach in Discharging Her Duties

By Sarafadeen Abdullahi Olamide (El-Sharaf)

Education in Kwara has always been one of the major industries in the state, as the state is not blessed with many mineral resources compared to some other states in Nigeria.

With the development rocking the education sector, it is important to applaud the state governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, for selecting the best hands for the job. At least in that aspect, he deserves accolades, even though I disagree with him in other areas.

With the appointment of Dr. Adetola Ariyike Salau as Special Adviser on Education in Kwara, one can conclude that the era of retrogressive development in the education sector has been put to rest. Ever since her appointment, Dr. Adetola has been moving from one place to another, within and outside the country, not for vacation, fashion parades, or sightseeing but for the purpose of building social capital to facilitate development in the sector.

In less than one year of her appointment, Ariyike has achieved many landmarks and facilitated many partnerships with local and international organizations, groups, and foundations to invest in Kwara education.

Several programs have been anchored and various kinds of empowerment initiatives have been undertaken, including Girl Child Support, STEM, distribution of educational materials, and scholarship awards. These initiatives aim to ensure that every Kwara citizen, irrespective of age, gender, or locality, has access to and develops an interest in education. With these achievements, one can deduce that Dr. Adetola Ariyike Salau is active in discharging her duties and is an excellent, oriented individual.

Consolidating the trend and pride, there is a clear indication that Dr. Adetola is an academician who values education and prioritizes it.

Her open-door policy, relationship with students across various institutions, and her willingness to mingle with and support every child within the educational environment explain her motherly approach to discharging her duties as Special Adviser on Education.

In fact, Ariyike is a strong advocate for educational development and believes that every child counts, making her an outstanding mother in the educational environment.

The wonders performed by Dr. Adetola Ariyike Salau do not involve magic or abracadabra methods of working her way through; rather, they involve her intellectual way of presiding over public-related matters, her genius way of reciprocating love and respect, her confidence in addressing the public, her composed and articulate spoken English and Yoruba, and her exceptional ways of building networks to attract development. All these attributes show that her doctorate degree is not an honorary award but was achieved through excellent performance in her academic career.

Ariyike stands out among women who see political platforms as an avenue to advance their social life by throwing parties, enjoying expensive luxuries, and misbehaving all in the name of power. Instead, she has used her office to help, raise the poor, and advocate for equity and fairness in the distribution and allocation of resources.

Dr. Adetola Ariyike Salau is a blessing to womanhood, and I wish other women within and outside the political system would emulate her.

Weldone