Every Day A Boxing Day In Ondo South: Valedictory Tribute to Senator Jimoh Ibrahim
By Onawumi kehinde Ayochris
As Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, CFR, PhD, prepares to leave the Senate for his new assignment as Ambassador, Ondo South stands tall in gratitude. His less than three years in the 10th Senate have been a harvest of achievements so abundant that they read like a festival of progress. Truly, his tenure has been a Boxing Day of blessings, every day marked by giving, compassion, and purposeful leadership.
From the very first month of his inauguration, Senator Ibrahim showed that leadership is not about occupying a seat but about occupying hearts. He influenced the payment of ₦200 million to contractors restoring electricity in Ondo South, bringing light back to Senatorial District long in darkness. Like the saying goes, “A promise is a debt; fulfillment is wealth,” and he paid his debts to his people with speed and sincerity.
His legislative record sparkles like jewels in a crown: the Federal College of Education in Igbekebo, the Federal Polytechnic in Igbokoda, the Federal College of Nursing in Irele, and the amendment bill for the Federal College of Agriculture in Araromi Obu. He sponsored the Bitumen Development Commission Bill, the Insurance Amendment Act of 2023, the Coastal State Bill, and the Federal Data Bank Bill. Each bill is a monument of foresight, a seed planted to secure the future of Ondo South and Nigeria. “He who builds schools builds nations,” and Senator Ibrahim has built institutions that will stand as pillars of opportunity for generations.
Beyond the Senate chamber, his touch has been felt in every corner of Ondo South. Roads once broken now gleam with asphalt overlays—the Okitipupa–Igbotako 25.9km road, the Igbotako roundabout to Big Soul Hotel stretch, and the Idogun road construction. Villages glow under 410 solar street lights, and 66 wards drink from solar‑powered boreholes. Hospitals received equipment worth ₦40 million, farmers received trailers of fertilizer, Southerners receive trailers of rice everyear and LCDA buildings rose from his ₦20 million donation. Each project is a short story of transformation: the mother of triplets who received ₦500,000 support, the market women who rebuilt after fire with his ₦500,000 aid, the disabled youth who now moves with dignity in a wheelchair, and the student who sat for JAMB because he paid for over 1,000 forms. These are not statistics; they are lives touched, futures restored, dignity reaffirmed.
His compassion has been steady as the morning sun. Small business owners received ₦300,000 cheques to expand their ventures. Youths were empowered with ₦200,000 each in June 2024, and 200 youths received ₦50,000 each in December 2024. Women were supported with ₦50,000 each in March 2025, while persons with disabilities received both financial support and mobility aids, including 200 wheelchairs. He gave ₦500,000 each to 10 businesswomen who lost their goods in the Okitipupa market fire. These interventions are not handouts but hand‑ups, designed to lift people from survival to self‑reliance. As the proverb says, “The rooster does not crow for itself but to wake the village,” and Senator Ibrahim’s crow has been the sound of progress waking Ondo South to new possibilities.
Education remained the heartbeat of his vision. Beyond paying for JAMB forms, he launched a ₦100 million bursary scheme for 1,000 undergraduates, each recognized as a JI Scholar. He sponsored 100 youths with allowances to attend the public hearing of the Nigerian Bitumen Development Commission Bill, ensuring that young voices were heard in national discourse. He facilitated federal job placements for constituents, ensuring that representation translated into opportunities. His free medical outreach at the University of Fortune, Igbotako, in May 2025, brought healthcare to thousands, reinforcing his belief that governance must be humane and inclusive.
Senator Ibrahim also approved a youth centre and CBT centre with budgets of ₦600 million each, facilitated the rehabilitation of Akinfosile Road with ₦600 million, and secured approval for 40 units of 500 KVA transformers to tackle persistent power challenges. His interventions touched every sector: education, health, infrastructure, agriculture, and social welfare painting a portrait of leadership anchored on empathy, equity, and responsibility.
Boxing Day is about giving, about leaders opening their hands to lift others. Senator Jimoh Ibrahim has made every day in the Senate a Boxing Day for Ondo South. He has given light where there was darkness, water where there was thirst, education where there was limitation, and hope where there was despair. His record is not the end goal but the momentum for greater victories ahead. And now, as he leaves the Senate for ambassadorship, he carries with him the same spirit of service, ready to represent Nigeria on the global stage with the same passion that transformed Ondo South.
This is not a goodbye but a celebration from you boy ‘Ayo’. A valedictory story of a man who turned promises into performance, who made compassion his compass, and who proved that leadership is best measured by results. Ondo South is proud, Nigeria is proud, and history will remember Senator Jimoh Ibrahim as a leader who made every day a Boxing Day of progress. Truly, “the sun does not need to announce itself; its light speaks louder than words.”