“The State Of Ogun Just Before The Polls: Why Dapo Abiodun Might Be The Best Option For Ogun State” – Victor Olusegun Oluwole

I love Ogun west and this isn’t just because I’ve got some amazing friends from that senatorial District but mostly because I’ve got long-standing family political ties to the Yewa Awori people.

Senator Otegbola| Photo: tribuneonlineng

Baba Senator Otegbola and my late great leader and mentor Chief Olalekan Johnson Ishola Ojo come from that division. Senator Otegbola was at my eldest sister’s Christening here in the UK about 53 years ago, so, he and my dad have been friends for decades.

Aremo Bayode Omololu Oluwole – My Dad

On the other hand, Chief Olalekan Ishola Ojo was handed over to my dad by Senator Otegbola for political guidance and partnership when the Senator stepped down as the First Chairman of the Ogun State PDP and handed the role over to Chief Ojo who happened to be a retired senior police officer.

Chief Ojo under my dad’s political backing, guidance and partnership would then go ahead to midwife the emergence of Baba Obasanjo as President from the party and also ensured the emergence of Otunba Gbenga Daniel as Governor of Ogun state when the now former governor was completely unknown politically.

Indeed, Dad and late Chief Ojo would then be referred to as twin brothers.

Last July, in an article I posted here on this platform, I chronicled how I then believed that the Ogun West political interest of becoming Governor of our state will not and cannot be achieved if the people continue to allow sitting Governors to manipulate their potentially electable sons, pitching them against the larger interest of the division.

Gboyega Nasir Isiaka | Photo: gboyeganasirisiaka.com

Years ago, it was Gboyega Nasir Isiaka who was used by the then sitting Governor to thwart the momentum of Gen Olurin’s emergence as governor, all he needed to do was to look inward and think locally, but he allowed his ambition to blindside him from the main desire of his people, the long-suffering Yewa Awori people.

Had he decided to jettison his former political master and his blind ambition at the time, Gen Olurin from Ogun West would have been governor as against the man with the ridiculous hat today.

Former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun

GNI and his then leader managed to split the fortune and chances of the PDP by defecting to the  People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN) and gave Governor Amosun a thoroughfare into the government house.

Today, the story of the betrayal of the Yewa/Awori people has not changed, you have a governor who continued to pay lip service to the Yewa agenda and when he had the chance to present a candidate for the people of the division to follow much earlier on, he delayed the selection process and polarised the people even further.

He jettisoned a potential candidate who has now won a senatorial seat in the division under the APC and opted for his stooge in order to be able to run the state by proxy from his senatorial seat in Abuja.

He has selected Mr Akinlade against the wishes of his own party and used state resources to promote a new political party APM which he does with unimaginable impunity and disregard to the leaders and directives of his own party.

The governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Adekunle Akinlade

He was noted to have personally supervised the removal of his party’s candidate’s campaign billboards and posters. He brought to the campaign ground and positioned thugs who pelted pure water sachets and other objects in the direction of his own president someone with whom he is known to be personal friends. What a disgrace!

Like GNI allowed himself to be manipulated by the then governor against his people, so also is Akinlade allowing himself to be used against the greater goal of the Yewa/Awori people today.

This only tells me one thing, that my beloved friends from that division can kiss the idea of attaining power in Ogun state goodbye for another eight years. It’s simple! “Together we stand divided we fall”

In other news, Ogun State has been afflicted with unnecessary political battles, the above and of course the drama in the PDP.

I wrote and cautioned last July that Hon. Ladi Adebutu Kensington must “stoop to conquer” I admonished him to ensure that nothing comes between him and his beautiful ambition to lead Ogun State. I said this because I’ve been privy to his great ambitious plans for our state. I even went ahead to place his ambition ahead of my Own Aunty’s candidacy who happens to be the Candidate of the African Action Congress.

Hon. Ladi Adebutu Kensington aka Lado

I cautioned that Lado needed every hand on board to attain his goal even those of Buruji Kasamu the embattled Ogun East senator. Today, however, ego and pride emanating from both sides has once again destroyed that ambition.

If you do not agree that Lado’s momentum has been drained of its flare and oil, clearly, you have not seen what the results of the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections say and the potential political implication of the same.

Lado’s prayers have not been helped by the legal twists and turns employed by Senator Buruji Kasamu and his legal team to simply frustrate Lado and his support base and growing structure.

How can the people opt for the PDP in Ogun state when the party and its major players are busy fighting for the party’s ticket in court? Guess what, they will still be in court in the next few days just days to the gubernatorial elections.

The aggrieved faction after that court case will hold the real aces which will determine who gets the Ogun Government House for the next four and possibly eight years. I know what I would do! Joining Governor Amosun and his boy Akinlade in their party is an endorsement of Amosun for a third term which no sensible political faction would do.

On the other hand, backing GNI’s ADC will be fruitless as Amosun has already short-changed that division again by helping them split their vote amongst two of their sons.

I would rather opt for the much-ridiculed and abused Dapo Abiodun in whose party and domain the momentum now lies going by the outcome of the just-concluded elections.

More so, I would truly like to see what he wants to do with Ogun state because Dapo Abiodun has been around for quite a while since our UNCP days, he has been relentless. I must also express my pride in sharing the Remo Heritage with him considering his handling of the motor park confrontations of the current governor. I do not know him that well, but a man who has been able to display such temperament in the face of serious provocation is worth giving a chance.

Map of Ogun State

God bless our beloved Ogun State.

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[The Ẹgbado, now Yewa, are a subgroup of the Yoruba people, and inhabit the eastern area of Ogun West Senatorial District, Ogun State, in south-west Nigeria, Africa. In 1995 they changed their name to the Yewa. Yewa clan now comprises 4 local Governments Yewa South, Yewa North, Imeko-Afon and Ipokia, while the Ado-Odo/Ota LGA forms the 5th Awori part of the senatorial district] Source: Wikipedia