Children of past political leaders are following the footprints of their fathers in every endeavour. In this piece, OLAOLU OLADIPO lists some of the personalities involved

Past political leaders who once ruled the country are now calling the shots through their children in virtually all the tiers of government. Their offspring are in different leadership positions hitherto occupied by their parents.

From Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), children of the well-to-do, as well as shakers and movers of the country's political, social and economic life, have taken over the mantle of leadership and setting the pace ahead of 2015.

The late Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki was popular for political sagacity and strategic maneuvering. Oloye, as he was fondly called, was synonymous with Kwara politics. He called the shots and dictated who became what for over four decades. Until the cold hands of death snatched him away at the age of 79, he was still an enigma whose political desires tallied with that of his state.

His son, the immediate past governor of the state, now a senator, Bukola Saraki, has been reportedly chosen by a broad section of the Kwara society to lead them. The younger Saraki shares so many things with his late father. He is also a qualified medical doctor who ventured into politics, as well as a proud holder of the distinguished title of Turaki Ilorin, a post his father held before being upgraded to a much higher title of the Waziri.

The situation is similar in the neighbouring Kogi State, where Chief Yomi Awoniyi, son of a former chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, is riding on his father's name to achieve political clout. Yomi, who is an architect, is the deputy governor of the state, and he is regarded as one of the political heavyweights who will decide the fate of the state ahead of 2015.

And to prove the weight of Yomi, Governor Wada Idris had, during the fifth memorial service of late Awoniyi on December 3, 2012, declared that the former ACF leader's selfless sacrifice stabilised the country's democracy.

Similar arrangement is also the norm at the third tier of government, as the current caretaker chairman of Ajaokuta Local Government Area, Mr. Alloysius Okino is the son of the foremost political bigwig in Kogi State, Hon. Ado Moses Okino. The latter was a former member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007.