Politics
Ogun State: Eight Years of Eventful Service – A Retrospect
Visionary leadership drives Ogun through inclusive governance, local capacity, and bold reforms that redefined infrastructure, economy, and public service
Looking back, I would say my 2,922 days as the Governor and sitting on top of the political administration of Ogun State is one of the most eventful of my political and professional career.
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It couldn’t have been less challenging especially because managing people of diverse culture and temperaments cutting across the various professions and idiosyncrasies, and balancing the various interests of the political class and men and women of the civil service can be quite tasking.
We had to invent ingenious ways to keep the ship afloat and deliver on most of the promises that we made to our people during the electioneering campaigns.
We had our jobs well cut out for us, because from the outset, we were determined to make the difference in the polity and the way things are done.
Before venturing into the politics of Ogun State, we did our Needs Assessment of what we think are the expectations of our and what really people want from their government and what can make our administration stand out when we eventually win the contest.
Together with my team we held several hold out sessions and retreats to design policies, programs and projects that could make this happen.
We introduced strategic retreats and a bonding process to integrate both the civil service and the political appointees for seamless working operations, and synergy.
One of the creative initiatives in our bonding process include a chain exchange of gifts where every one attending the retreat will come with a gift secretly wrapped and enclosed their contact details.
It is such a web of networking such that whoever picks each other’s gifts becomes work environment friends and must call and interact with one another regularly.
This way, we ensured transparency and the free flow of information across the political and administrative spectrum. Almost everyone, anywhere in the System knows what we are doing through strategic information sharing.
We also introduced the Central Administration of Salaries and Pensions (CASP) to streamline and automate the process of payments.
Leveraging the talents and professional competence of the dynamic forces in the Ogun State civil service by creating several new agencies like the Ogun State Road Management Agency (OGROMA), the Ogun State Electricity Project (OGSEP), the Traffic Compliance and Emergency Agency (TRACE), the Ogun State Agriculture and Microcredit Agency (OSAMCA), Gateway Holdings Limited, Bureau of Transportation (BoT) and a host of others.
Several civil and public servants went through various capacity development programs through several local and international trainings.
The 2000-seater Valley View Auditorium was designed by an Architect Vaughn in the Ogun State civil service, supervised by Engineers Adekoya and Onabanjo all within the Ogun State civil service.
We were determined not to award any of our construction works to any foreign contractors and most of the Roads constructed under our administration were done by OGROMA, and by extension staff of the civil service of Ogun State.
One of such roads was the Oke Ilewo Lalubu road in the State capital, Abeokuta. I am not aware that a single repair has been carried out on that road which turned Oke Ilewo into Ogun State’s equivalent of Broad Street or Allen Avenue.
Where local competences were discovered to be lacking or in short fall, we trained. No sooner that we were sworn in on May 29th and I took an inspection tour of some of the Ministries, Agencies and Departments of Government that I noticed antiquated office equipment and typewriters still in use as of 2003.
In some offices of course a few of them have migrated to electric typewriters. We therefore embarked on phased training of our men and women in the Civil service.
We activated a training program at the South West Resource Centre in conjunction with a United States government through its Consulate in Nigeria and also started a phased Computerisation of government offices once the right proficiencies have been acquired.
We set to industrialise Ogun State and we conceived the ideas of economic Drivers, major projects spread across all the four regions of Ogun State.
We started with the dualisation of the Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu road to connect some of our major towns and then conceptualized the idea of having an Agro-Cargo Airport in the Ilishan/Iperu area of Remoland.
We got all necessary statutory approvals for NiMet, FAAN and the Ministry of Aviation for the airport construction, carried out all the Feasibility Studies, acquired the Land, did the crop enumeration, paid compensation, produced the Architectural Design and even turned the sod for the take off of the project (those in project management agree that these processes constitute 70% of efforts in any projects of such magnitude) before the end of our tenure in 2011.
Also, as part of our Industrialisation Policy, we established the Flower gate Industrial Estate at the Abeokuta Sagamu Interchange with an overflow inwards to Abeokuta and outwards on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Today, that corridor, I can proudly say is one of the fastest growing industrial corridors in Nigeria. The Agro-Cargo Airport which we conceived and created was actually to service this Industrial corridor with an Aerotropolis (an Airport City) and Agro-Processing industrial corridors.
Leveraging on the unique advantage of the sea in the Ogun Waterside area, we secured the license and established the Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) in Ode Omi area. As part of the Free Trade Zone were several other economic projects like the OKLNG, OK Deep Seaports projects.
We equally secured the license and established the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone in Igbeba as well as the Kajola Free Trade Zone in the Ifo Local Government Council Area of the State.
To support our industrialisation vision, we procured a 7MW Independent Power Project Power to supply energy to critical government infrastructure like waters facilities and government offices and institutions and to take all these institutions off the national power grid.
As part of our local content initiatives and to grow local competences, several engineers from the civil service were sent to China at the point of manufacturing of these Power plants to be trained on how to repair and maintain these equipment and save the state enormous resources instead of bringing foreigners each time they need some fixing.
Our education policy was widely acclaimed as one that was well thought out, because it was during our administration that we established the first University of Education in Nigeria, the Tai Solarin University of Education.
This was the second of such specialized University in the whole of Africa and the eight in the world.
Not only that, we relocated the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) from its temporary site at Ago Iwoye Secondary School to a permanent, purpose-built campus, and then went ahead to create four other specialized ICT institutions, the Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade Remo; the DS Adegbenro Polytechnic in Itori, Abeokuta; the Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu Igbo; the Ayodeji Otegbola Polytechnic, Igbesa.
We equally established the Gateway Industrial Petro-Gas Institute in Oni, Ogun Waterside to train and deliver special skills in the Oil and Gas Industry.
We also established the School of Nursing & Midwifery, Ilaro as well as the Olabisi Onabanjo University College of Agriculture Aiyetoro campus and College of Engineering/Technology in Ibogun.
If there is an area where our administration has been scored highest in our 10,070 hours of service to Ogun State, I believe posterity will credit us fairly in the Welfare and Human Capital Development department.
Our administration for the first time, and perhaps the last instituted a scholarship scheme under the Human and Capital Development Program (HUCAP) where indigent First Class Graduates were sponsored for Post Graduate degrees in Ivy League institutions outside the country.
Several beneficiaries of this initiative are the loudest testimonies of our administration for which we will forever remain proud.
It is also on record that our administration created the office of Principal Generals (equivalent of the Permanent Secretaries) in our education system where teachers in the employment of the State can rise to the Pinnacle of their career like their counterparts in the mainstream civil service.
While we also employed no fewer than 16,000 new teachers into the Ogun State Teaching service through our Voluntary Teachers Scheme (VTS).
We remain proud to say that we changed the work ethics in the Ogun State civil service and revolutionise the Transition into modern Information and Communication Technology into the system.
We started with ICT Training at the South West Resource Centre and gradually introduced Computers as a work instrument and begin the gradual process of paperless office.
To provide a conducive working environment, we built a new Four-Block ultramodern Secretariat Complex with top notch facilities for workers comfort. While we also prioritized the prompt payment of workers salaries and emoluments.
The several new agencies that we created OGEGEP, OGROMA, TRACE, OSAMCA, (Parks and Garages Development Board (PAGADEB) were all part of our deliberate policy towards creating jobs and employment for many young citizens of Ogun State and also reduce workload on the existing overburdened staff already in the service.
It is to the credit of our administration that we built Workers Estate, not only in Laderin Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, but also in Itanrin Ijebu Ode, Ifo, Ilaro and GRA Sagamu/Simawa to balance the Ogun State’s Zonal configuration and simultaneous growth and development.
The highpoint of our housing policies for workers welfare was such that we ensure that unit cost for each houses for members of our civil service must not be more than One million naira (N1m).
We insisted on this as a principle and many of our civil servants were allocated houses at the Laderin Workers Estate at the cost of Nine Hundred and Ninety Naira.
We emphasized a mortgage System whereby workers only needed to pay just a ten percent (10%) of this cost through their mortgage with the Gateway Savings and Loans Limited.
And to ensure easy access to this mortgage facilities we commissioned a brand new headquarters office complex of the Gateway Savings and Loans Limited in Abeokuta and opened branch offices in Ota, Sagamu and Ijebu Ode.
Senior civil/public officials were allocated official vehicles of different brands, from Commissioners down to the Director’s level.
Our judicial officers were not left out as most judges were given Prado Jeeps (SUVs) while duplexes were built as Judges Quarters befitting their statuses, security and the sensitive nature of their jobs.
In the areas ot Youth and Sports Development, we remodelled the MKO Stadium in Abeokuta fitted with AstroTurf or synthetic grass and an airconditioner State Box, we followed this up with the construction of three new stadia in Sagamu, Ilaro and Ijebu Ode.
The FIFA rated Gateway Stadium in Ijebu Ode has a purpose-built 100 capacity facility as a Games Village for athletes camping attached while right beside the stadium in Sagamu we constructed an ultramodern NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp which years after is still adjusted to be one of the best in the country till date.
We hosted the first and only National Sports Festival (Gateway Games 2006) where an account was rendered at the Closing Ceremony of the competition and the state also declared a profit underscoring the transparency and accountability that we espoused during the administration.
During the Games, the capacities of Ogun State dutiful Civil service was tested to the limit as all Permanent Secretaries and Directors were assigned as Games State Contingent Overseers in charge of each participating State.
Every department of the government was fully and dutifully engaged to achieve success.
We initiated a 25-Year Economic and Development Master plan for Ogun State and put civil servants at the Drivers seat for continuity because they are the arm of government operations that will be around for longer time while the political class holds office temporarily and for brief periods.
The re-engineering of the State with solid road maps has become the template upon which successive administration runs.
And to ensure the economic prosperity of the State and its ability to sustain all the projects envisaged in our development Master plan, we instituted the Gateway Holdings as an investment arm of the State to coordinate and manage the State’s investment holdings, stocks and shares and yo initiate diverse opportunities.
The creation and statutory establishment of Ogun State Parks and Garages Board (PAGADEB), was described as unique and first in the history of the State.
We conceived this idea to ensure the corporate management of all the parks and garages in the state.
The Commission was made up of experienced elder statesmen and women, in allied professions, as members of the Board, led by an Executive Chairman and a member of our civil service as the Director General., supporting with official bureaucracy and protocols.
We also established the State Elders Council, where advocacy and counselling Initiatives of leaders of thought in Ogun State.
The Elders (fomer Governors, former Commissioners, Special Advisers, former Council Chairmen, retired Head of Service/Permanent Secretaries, civil/public and private sectors) across all sectors, but we insisted that qualifications to be a member of this Council must be indigenes/residents from age 60 and above, provide resourceful advisory roles to the Government.
Since the inception of our administration in May 2003, we made it a point of duty to engage the citizens through regular weekly interactions, some at the Governor’s office in Abeokuta, and at other times via direct physical/telephone communication channels.
Citizens were to ask varied questions no matter how unpleasant.
I must say, that it was through this feedback mechanism and initiate that led us to the establishmemt of Ministry of Community Development which was also described as the first in Ogun State and the entire South West of Nigeria.
To make our administration more partipatory, we also built an Oba’s complex at the Ogun State Secretariat in Abeokuta, technically making the traditional rulers the fourth arm of government after the Executive, legislature and the Judiciary.
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Our traditional rulers were encouraged to hold regular meetings to discuss matters of state and security and offered advice from their timelines wisdom in support of our administration.
His Excellency, The Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel, FNSE, FAEng, FNIMechEng
Governor of Ogun State (2003-2011)
Oladapo Sofowora
The scorching sun rises over Gusau, Zamfara State, casting golden rays of light on a city that once knew only bleak shadows. Construction cranes, heavy-duty lifting machines adorn the skyline like mechanical giraffes, their arms dangling gracefully as they lift heavy steel and pour concrete into place. The rhythmic sound of hammers, rammers, and drilling machines, and the steady hum of generators fill the air; the unmistakable symphony of a state being reborn becomes all too visible. This is the vivid picture of the Zamfara of today made possible by the Chief Rescuer; Governor Dauda Lawal. As Machiavelli said; “Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times.” But to understand where it is going, one must first understand where it has been.
Just over three years ago, Zamfara State was bleeding dry from every deep cut one can ever imagine. Schools were roofless shells where children sat on bare floors, their dreams of education slowly suffocating under the weight of total neglect. Hospitals were little more than abandoned buildings, their empty beds and peeling paint serving as grim monuments to a government that had abandoned its people. Bandits roamed freely across the state, burning villages, kidnapping children and killing with sheer impunity. Civil servants hadn’t been paid in months and retirees from as far back as 2011 were still waiting for their hard-earned gratuities. Clean portable water became a luxury. There was no ray of hope in the distance. Zamfara had become a byword for failure, poor, a cautionary tale whispered across Nigeria about what happens when governance collapses. Like the true messiah, God’s gift to the state Governor Dauda Lawal came into the picture to rewrite the story of the state.
When he took office on May 29, 2023, Governor Lawal inherited a state in ruins, people in despair and a system that had ceased to function. But rather than tiptoe around the crisis by offering empty promises, he knew he couldn’t keep, he did something unprecedented. He declared states of emergency on all aspects of the nonfunctional state. On November 14, 2023, he declared a State of Emergency in Education. On January 30, 2024, he declared a State of Emergency in Health. Some called it drastic. He called it the necessary action.
Across the length and breadth of Zamfara State, a revolution began. In the dusty villages of Bukkuyum, in the crowded neighbourhoods of Gusau, in the remote hamlets of Maru and Anka, the governor’s rescue mission began to take shape. Over eight hundred schools have been rebuilt or renovated, their fresh paint and new roofs standing as defiant statements that education matters in Zamfara. The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment project alone has renovated 174 schools in its first phase, with forty more already approved for intervention. Solar-powered boreholes now provide clean water in 115 schools, liberating children from the burden of walking miles to fetch water before class. Seven hundred and fifty new toilet units have been constructed, restoring dignity to students who once had no choice but to relieve themselves in the open. Nearly ten thousand three-seater desks have been provided to children who once sat on cold, hard floors. When his administration discovered that WAEC results from 2018 to 2022 had been withheld because the government hadn’t paid examination fees, he authorised the immediate release of N1.4 billion to clear those debts. Results were released. Futures were restored. Young people who had given up on their dreams of higher education suddenly saw those dreams within reach again. NECO fees were paid for every public-school candidate. Children who had been written off by a failed system were given a second chance.
No achievement has resonated more deeply with Zamfara’s people than the governor’s handling of security. For years, bandits held the state hostage, their reign of terror so complete that entire communities were reduced to ghost towns. Villages burned. Children were abducted from their schools, farmers deserted their farmlands and traders couldn’t trade. The government seemed powerless, reduced to negotiating with terrorists and paying ransoms that only emboldened the criminals more until Governor Lawal took a different approach stating boldly that his administration would never enter into peace deals with terrorists. “We will never negotiate with bandits. We will hunt them down. We will dismantle their networks and we will restore peace to Zamfara.” He said in one of his briefings. Reiterating his commitment to securing the lives and properties of his people as the Chief Security Officer of the State.
In a series of coordinated operations that demonstrated both strategic brilliance and unwavering resolve, security forces neutralised some of the most notorious bandit kingpins in the state and by extension the region. Habibu Sububu, the kingpin who terrorised the entire North West, was eliminated. Kachalla Ali Kawaje, who abducted students from Federal University Gusau, met his Waterloo. Kachalla Jafaru, Kachalla Barume, Yellow Sirajo, Isyaka Gwarnon Daji among others had their reign of terror ended by Governor Lawal’s administration. The governor also invested heavily in security infrastructure, handing over 140 operational vehicles to security agencies and establishing the Community Protection Guards, a volunteer force of local hunters and vigilantes who were trained, equipped and integrated into the security architecture. Weekly Security Council meetings ensured that intelligence was shared, strategies were coordinated and action was swift. For the first time in years, Zamfara’s farmers are returning to their farmland, markets are reopening and children are walking to school without fear of being attacked.
The health sector has undergone an unprecedented transformation. In Maradun, a once-neglected town where the general hospital had become a death trap with its leaky roofs, broken equipment and complete absence of medicines, the facility now stands as a modern healthcare centre where mothers give birth safely and children receive treatment for diseases that once killed them. Maradun is not an isolated case. Hospitals in Maru, Kaura Namoda, Gusau and Anka have all been renovated and upgraded with state-of-the-art equipment. Their pharmacies have been restocked as health workers are being recruited and trained to meet the teeming demands of the state. Medications are now available to the dispensed while lives are being saved daily. Governor Lawal’s vision extends beyond bricks and mortar. The Huriyya Dauda Lawal Sexual Assault Referral Centre, an initiative by the First Lady of Zamfara State; the first of its kind in Zamfara, now provides medical care, counseling and support to victims of gender-based violence. Through partnerships with UNFPA, eighty women have been trained in vocational skills, gaining economic independence and dignity.
Gusau itself is almost unrecognisable from what it was three years ago. New roads cut through the city like arteries of progress. Streetlights brighten neighbourhoods that were once dark and dangerous, where residents lived in constant fear of nighttime attacks. The JB Yakubu State Secretariat gleams with fresh paint and thorough renovations. The Sardauna Memorial Stadium has been restored to its former glory, a source of pride for a state that had forgotten what pride felt like. Clean, potable water flows from taps in communities that had been forced to drink from rivers, their children suffering from waterborne diseases that should have been eradicated decades ago. The Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria recognised Governor Lawal as Infrastructure Governor of the Year for this transformative work, but for the governor, the award is secondary to the impact on people’s lives.
The governor also tackled the water crisis head-on, building solar-powered boreholes in five communities and constructing earth dams for irrigation. The government invested in mechanised farming and agro-processing, creating jobs and improving food security in a state where hunger had become a weapon of mass destruction. But perhaps most importantly, Governor Lawal demonstrated that governance could be efficient and accountable. He inherited a bloated bureaucracy that was draining the state’s resources without delivering services and he acted decisively, reducing ministries from twenty-eight to sixteen and permanent secretaries from forty-eight to twenty-three. The savings were redirected to the people. Four months of salary arrears were cleared for state and local government workers. Thirteen billion naira in outstanding gratuities was paid to retirees who had been waiting since 2011. Civil servants received a leave grant of ten per cent of their annual salary during Ramadan 2024, a first in Zamfara’s history.
Governor Lawal’s vision is not limited to his current term. He has unveiled a comprehensive ten-year development plan, a roadmap for Zamfara’s transformation built on six pillars: economy, infrastructure, social welfare, human capital, governance and environmental sustainability. The plan has attracted international attention and support, with representatives from the African Development Bank expressing confidence that Zamfara is poised to become a benchmark for transformative economic growth in Nigeria and across Africa. The state is harnessing its potential in agriculture and natural resources leveraging mechanised farming, agro-processing and its value chains to create more jobs, improve food security and reduce poverty-driven insecurity to ensure generational transformation.
In May 2026, APC stakeholders in Zamfara endorsed Governor Dauda Lawal as their consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election. The endorsement was not a rubber stamp nor a political calculation, but a recognition of the governor’s unprecedented performance and the urgent need for unhindered continuity.
The rescue mission is underway, but it is far from complete. The foundations have been laid, the seeds have been planted, the first fruits have been harvested, but the harvest is not yet fully gathered. Zamfara needs time to consolidate the gains, to build on the progress, to ensure that the transformation is irreversible. Governor Lawal himself makes no apologies for seeking a second term. He has started a rescue mission where he has rebuilt over eight hundred schools, renovated hospitals, restored water, neutralised bandit kingpins, paid salaries and restored dignity. But the job is not done yet, the foundation has been laid, it’s time to build the house. The seeds have been planted, harvest needs time. The race has started, but the finish line is yet to be crossed.
The people of Zamfara have seen what is possible. They have witnessed a governor who keeps his promises, who works tirelessly, who governs with integrity and vision. They have experienced the difference between a leader who serves and a leader who rules. When they go to the polls in 2027, they will not be voting for a man. They will be voting for a shared future, continuity, progress and for Zamfara. Governor Dauda Lawal has already proven himself worthy of their trust. Now it is time for them to allow him to complete the good work he has started. The rescue mission continues; with Governor Dauda Lawal at the helm, Zamfara will continue to rise.
Speaker Mudashiru Obasa swears in Adenike Abolanle Oshinowo as Lagos Assembly Clerk, the first female to hold the position, while celebrating the distinguished retirement of Olalekan Onafeko.
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