Since Wednesday, November 14, 2012 when the Second Republic senate leader and kingmaker of Kwara politics, Alhaji Olusola Saraki, passed on, his Iloffa road, Government Reserved Area (GRA) residence in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital has continued to play host to eminent Nigerians from all walks of life.

Among the distinguished Nigerians that trooped to the residence of the late Saraki included past and serving political office holders at all levels of government. They all came to pay their last respect to the notable leader widely regarded as "apostle of consensus politics."

The earlier callers included former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, his deputy, Chief Emeka Ihedioha.

Others were Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, former governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Saidu Dakingari, Ambassador Nimota Akanbi, the proprietor of Alhikma University, Ilorin, Alhaji Raimi Oladimeji as well as Ilorin kingmakers and traditional title holders in the ancient city.

The local politicians, political office holders in the state, party supporters and associates of the late Saraki were also at his residence in their hundreds.

The large number of dignitaries that troop to the Saraki's family residence on daily is however not without its attendant pains as residents of the Iloffa road and the adjourning streets have to contend with both the human and traffic log jam. The security arrangements along the routes are also very tight because of the calibre of people that daily thronged the Saraki's residence.

The situation is a replica of what happened in the evening of last Wednesday when Saraki's corpse arrived Ilorin International Airport en-route Lagos.

The mammoth crowd that gathered to receive the corpse at the airport made movement both vehicular and human difficult right from the airport through the airport road to Asa dam road and up to the Central Eid praying ground.

The crowd was so unprecedented that the clerics gathered at the praying ground for the Janazah prayer had to pray for Saraki's corpse inside the ambulance.

Security operatives had hectic time controlling the massive crowd most of whom wanted to catch a last glimpse of the deceased.

The situation was the same from the Eid praying ground to his Iloffa road, GRA residence as a journey of three kilometreswhich ordinarily should not take more than 20 minutes, took about one and an half hours.

And at his residence, the police had to shoot into the air to disperse the crowd before they were able to remove his corpse from the ambulance that conveyed it from the Eid praying ground.

Although, there were no official road blocks on most of the routes leading to the Saraki's family house, the large number of vehicles parked at both sides of the roads were hindering free flow of traffic. In fact most people living around the areas have resorted into parking their vehicles at home and ride on either motorcycle or commercial vehicles to their various destinations.

But the mammoth crowd at Saraki's residence has also brought about increase in sales by the people operating commercial activities along the area. The biggest beneficiaries of this situation are water and GSM credit card vendors. Because of the hot weather condition people needed to drink a lot of water. They were also willing to recharge their GSM phones to enable them make contact with their friends and relatives.

A number of residents of Iloffa road and the adjourning routes who spoke with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND confirmed that the death of Saraki visited on them both pains and gains.

They lamented the traffic logjam which they noted has become a permanent feature in the area since Wednesday when Saraki was laid to rest.

However, shop operators in the area confirmed that they have made more money in the past three days through the sales of water and GSM recharge cards.

Those who spoke with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND included Mallam Saka Laaro, Najim Femi, Ronke Musa, Dauda Hanafi and Fatimoh Kuranga.