By By Onono Onimisi
In a political atmosphere where leaders rush to Abuja after elections and bury themselves in federal comfort, Distinguished Senator Natasha H Akpoti is smashing that tired pattern with fierce intentionality. She refuses to be consumed by the capital. She refuses to become a senator who disappears and resurfaces only when campaign drums return. From the moment she took office, she chose the harder road which is the road of presence, loyalty, and connection.
While others hide behind Abuja’s tinted convoys, polished offices, and national Air condition, Sen. Natasha keeps coming home.
While others treat their constituencies like seasonal destinations, she treats hers like oxygen.
While others trade their people for proximity to power, she clings tighter to the soil that birthed her victory.
Even globally, some leaders understand the value of staying grounded among their base. Take Donald Trump, for example. Despite holding one of the most powerful offices on earth, he never abandoned his home state of New York. He remained connected to the people and the place that built him, even while he worked in Washington, D.C. He understood that leadership is not about hiding in the capital it is about staying close to the people who entrusted you with power.
Senator Natasha reflects that same fierce loyalty.
She carries the spirit of a leader who knows that presence is not optional it is essential. Her return home is not an act of convenience; it is an act of character. She doesn’t show up only when the cameras are watching or when the ballot boxes are out. She shows up when it matters, when nobody is counting votes, when nobody is campaigning, when nobody is expecting her.
And nothing proves this more than the choice she made recently!
She could have celebrated her birthday in Abuja in luxury, in federal glamour, surrounded by political elites.
But she chose her people instead.
She chose their laughter over Abuja’s lights.
She chose her community over capital status.
She chose connection over comfort.
Such a marvelous act! so simple, yet so powerful, exposes the truth of who she is.
Celebrating her birthday at home isn’t symbolic; it’s a soul-deep. Her own way of saying “My joy is not complete until it is shared with the people who made me.”
Every time she returns, she lights a flame under the feet of absentee politicians. She reminds the nation that leadership is not meant to be distant. Leadership is meant to walk, breathe, and live among the people it represents.
And at the center of all this stands an African truth carved from the wisdom of generations;
“The tree that forgets its roots will be cut down by the wind.”
Senator Natasha refuses to be that tree.
She refuses to be blown away by the wind of Abuja’s distractions.
She refuses to let power isolate her from the people who trusted her.
She comes home again, again, and again because her loyalty is stronger than convenience.
And as for me, I am Onono.
I write not with ink but with fire, because when my pen bleeds, it blazes fire.
And today, that fire honors a woman who chose presence over privilege!
A senator who chose her people over Abuja’s cozy atmosphere!
A leader who is rewriting the meaning of representation! Happy Birthday in advance Queen of Muse and mirror of the 21st century girl child!
Onono writes from prestigious Bayero University Kano and can be reached via onimisionono54@gmail.com
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