Jimoh Ibrahim: the making of a Senator evolving as a global brand Diplomat.
By Steve Ovirih.
Like a city set on the hilltop, Dr. Jimoh Folorunsho Ibrahim, PhD Cantab, Senator representing the good people of Ondo South Senatorial District in the 10th Senate of The Federal Republic of Nigeria has continued to shine and blaze the trail. The Federal Parliamentarian who rode to the Senate on the overwhelming mandate of the people of Ondo South has no doubt carved an enviable niche for himself both on the floor of The Red Chamber and on the global stage, first as a Legislature who is dyed- in- the- wool, second, as ‘ a leading Diplomat’, a leadership role conferred on him by the reason of his position as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interparliamentary Affairs, Worldwide which he has actively deployed to draw attention of World leaders on different Interparliamentary fora to the Pan Nigerian diplomatic nuance like no other federal Parliamentarian.
You will be surprised to note that even while he is a first timer Senator, he has hit the ground running at The Red Chamber drawing bills that speak to the issue of national development as it bothers on attracting federal presence to his Senatorial District, bearing in mind that the Primary mandate of a federal Lawmaker is to make Laws that will be in tune with national growth and development. The bill on the establishment of Bitumen Commission was moved by Senator Jimoh Ibrahim and a Public hearing on the nitty gritty of the bill held at the Senate attracted Ondo South Stakeholders as well as stakeholders from the federal ministries of The Environment, Solid Mineral, Finance and Economic Development. Beside this, bills for the establishment of Federal College of Education, School of Nursing, Federal Medical Center and many more , all to be located in Ondo South Senatorial District had been championed by the Distinguished Senator in the course of his two year stint in The Senate.
He brings intellectual discourse to the fore in The Senate each time he holds the floor and dissects public discourse on Law Making with the refined Pedigree of a versed, well read and internationaly exposed Legislature.
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim’s robust legislative impact becomes more beholding and pronounced in his Oversight function as the Chair of the Interparliamentary Committee. He picked the gauntlet boldly like a workman with a clear understanding of his commission and projected with enviable aplomb the demands of his committee. Projecting the positive image of Nigeria abroad became for him a beat that must be accomplished, armed with detailed data analytics on the true nature of the nation’s economy. Jimoh Ibrahim traversed different international Parliamentary sessions from Turkey to Geneva, The Hagues, Middle East, United Kingdom and others, as a member of the International Parliamentary Body, proclaiming the empirical evidence to debunk the erroneous impression of International donor bodies and other global agencies bandied as the state of health of the nation over the years.
Returning home in November, Distinguished Senator Jimoh Ibrahim presented a hundred thousand Naira bursary fund to one thousand undergraduates of Ondo South, totalling a whooping One hundred Million Naira with a promise of factoring new beneficiaries into the ‘JI Scholars’ scheme in subsequent years. While his constituents were still wowed with marvel at his Legislative strides, the news broke that Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, among others have been made Ambassador Designate by President Bola Tinubu. What a news, people marvelled!
One fact that cannot be blindsided is that on his beat at the Senate in the Interparliamentary Committee, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim who holds multiple degrees earned from Ivy League universities, including a PhD in War Studies and another one as Doctor of Business, has shone colorfully as an evolving Diplomat doing a great job of work with picking the dent off the public image of Nigeria on the international stage. When the World Bank tarred the status of the nation’s economy with the brush of economic stagnation that questioned the GDP of Nigeria, Ibrahim confronted this long held skewed narrative with a balanced narrative of the good health of Nigeira’s economic growth, an empirical evidence that ensured that World Bank /IMF corrected the stunted growth impression they had about Nigeria.
It is more than certain that with his global exposure, ‘Ambassador’ Distinguished Senator Jimoh Ibrahim when posted out eventually on a Foreign Mission to represent Nigeria , diplomatic relations which appears like a natural turf to him will yield for the nation mutual collaboration among the comity of nations.