The Daily Crucible

By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta

Abiodun Sidelines Yewa – Awori As National Sports Festival Opens May 18

…No Game Competition In Ogun West

The Ogun West Senatorial District covers the local government areas of Ado-Odo/Ota, Egbado North, Egbado South, Imeko Afon, and Ipokia.

The alleged marginalisation of the Ogun West Senatorial District of Ogun State assumed a disturbing and unbelievable dimension in May 2025 as the National Sports Festival 2024 being hosted by the state will formally open on Sunday, May 18, 2025 without any location in the Senatorial District deemed fit to host even one or two of the over a dozen games listed for the festival.

Ogun State Government under the watch of Governor Dapo Abiodun from Ogun East Senatorial District has spent over six months months preparing to host the festival with every segment of the Gateway State looking forward with enthusiasm to be part it, but the suffusing enthusiasm of the people of Yewa and Awori extractions of the state drained off completely on Friday evening, leaving many of them worried.

The Daily Crucible learnt that the game festival which is supposed to unite the state, give all a sense of belonging and reawaken the youth’s interest in sporting activities has left the Ogun West and her people sidelined, deepening the suspicion that the senatorial district having been mauled politically, will have to grapple with a new layer of systemic marginalization, allegedly added to their plight by Abiodun – led administration.

Some of the sons and daughters of the Ogun West who claimed they have seen the official competition schedule released by the organisers, alleged that none of the games was scheduled to take place anywhere in Yewa – Awori land even though the area boasts of a stadium in Ilaro built by the administration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel over a decade ago. There are other private and public facilities in Ogun West that can also host any of the games but they were shunned by the venue planners.

The people are accusing Dapo Abiodun – led administration of being responsible for sidelining them in the listing of venues for the competition.

An Ogun West lady and sports enthusiast, who identified herself as Oreoluwa,

Tourism and exposure, trigger shortterm boom in socioeconomic activities with in hospitality business, transporters, food and beverages vendors among others making brisk business throughout the duration of the festival. Apparently,

Gateway Games: Another Layer Of Sustained Economic Discrimination And Political Apartheid Against Ogun West

By Abayomi Arabambi

The Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako – Oyedele, Chief of Staff, Commissioner for Sports, serving Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, three federal lawmakers – Tunji Akinosi, Gboyega Nosiru Isiaka(GNI) and Isiaq Abiodun Akinlade are all illustrious sons and daughter of Ogun West who are also in government today.

Others from the zone are the Minister of State for Health and Social Services, Dr. Isiaq Kunle Salako and the Ogun Assembly Majority Leader,

Governor Dapo Abiodun elected to choose Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne and Babcock University Ilisan – both in Remo section of Ogun East, his Senatorial District, as venues for the football competition. The two sports facilities are of private entities. While the Remo Stars Stadium is owned by a young entrepreneur and sports lover behind the Remo Stars Football Club which was recently crowned champions of the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) after a commanding 4-1 win over Ikorodu City, Babcock University Ilisan is a missionary institution run by the Seventh Day Adventist.

Did the owners of these facilities give them out for free or lease ? Did Abiodun do any renovations or uplift of facilities there with the Ogun State resources? The good people of Ogun State would want to know. There should be openness or transparency about it. Did Ogun State Government on the watch of Governor Dapo Abiodun renovate or improve on these private sports facilities for the football competition at the expense of the State -owned stadia in Sagamu, Abeokuta and Ilaro ?

With possible exceptions of swimming and boxing, all other games advertised for the Gateway Games can be staged on Ayetoro Comprehensive High School sports field. In the whole of Ogun State, there is probably no secondary school playing field that is bigger than that of Compro Ayetoro. The expansive and grassy surface devoid of any form of contour is something else.

Besides, it has volleyball, basketball, and lawn tennis courts. Compro is a national champion in cricket games. The school has produced men that has represented Nigeria across the globe in the game. Some Compronians are outside Nigeria playing professional cricket. A section of the pitch is voted for cricketing

One recollects that Ogun State NYSC orientation camp took off from Compro. Owo (hand) agbara yi na ni NYSC orientation camp se kuro ni Ayetoro.

That tells whoever cares to listen that there are structures to house athletes

Something similar is at the defunct Teacher Training College now occupied by Government Science and Technical College Ayetoro. Same for Yewa College Ilaro. How did all of these public facilities in Ogun West escape the notice of games venue planners that none could be listed or scheduled as competition venue for any of the games?

If these secondary schools in Ogun West can boast of all these facilities, it is needless exploring what and what Ilaro township stadium has to offer.

That no event in the ongoing National Sports Festival is slated for Ogun West is an attestation that it is not about availability of facilities. It may not be unconnected to the deplorable road network which has been the district’s enduring trademark since the creation of Ogun State in 1976 but it is certainly not the fault of Ogun Westerners. The long years of asphyxiating marginalisation may have been the cause. And the latest layer of this persisting yoke is the total shunning of the zone in the Games venue allocations by the present administration and should serve as a wake up call on the Ogun Westerners to unite and struggle harder to shake off their yoke. Ironically, it is the zone that saved the Governor from what could have been a humiliating defeat from his kinsman in the 2023 governorship election. Is that the best way to reward a people?

Ogun West sons and daughters should wake up from the pall of docility and become more assertive. Nobody will give Power or your rights. It is yours to assert it, defend it, guard it and demand it. Power is not served a la carte. You have to struggle for power, power is not given on a platter of gold, arguing that since it is not served a la carte (without struggle), it requires serious hard work to come by. There may not be end to the plight of Ogun Westerners until they genuinely thirst for power and grab it. They should use every legitimate means to struggle for it. Ogun 2027 beckons.

It is befuddling that the elected and appointed officials of Ogun West extraction in government – beit state or federal, did not see anything wrong in this BIG SNUB directed at a Senatorial District by Dapo Abiodun. Did any of them complain? Were they all bullied into silence? Did they choose to keep sealed lip for political expediency?

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A storm of outrage has erupted among residents and stakeholders from Ogun West Senatorial District over the exclusion of the region from hosting any of the scheduled events in the forthcoming Ogun State Games.

The protest, which was ignited by a passionate post shared by Mr. Temitope on a popular WhatsApp platform, “The State of Ogun,” accused the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun of deliberate marginalization of the Yewa people, branding the move as “systemic degradation and tribal bias.”

In the viral post, Mr. Temitope questioned the silence of key political and traditional figures from Ogun West, challenging them to explain why no local government within the district was considered worthy to host any segment of the games.

“If this had happened to Ogun East, would they have accepted such an open insult? Why should we dress up to clap and cheer in other districts for what we are equally entitled to? Where is the Olu of Ilaro, the Paramount Ruler of Yewaland? Has he said anything, overtly or covertly, about this snub? Where is Senator Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), the highest elected Yewa man? Has he called Eleyi’s attention to this disrespect?” the post queried.

Temitope also lambasted members of the House of Representatives from the area, including Hon. Akinosi, Hon. Akinlade, and Hon. Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI), questioning their silence on the matter.

He further called out commissioners, aides, and other Yewa indigenes serving in the current administration, asking if any of them has considered resignation in protest of what he described as a “psychological assault” on the youths of Ogun West.

The post did not spare key political actors and stakeholders, including Hon. Awoso, Chief Egungbohun, Hon. Muse, Hon. Yusuf, and Hon. Jemili, demanding to know if any had confronted the Governor or raised the issue during budget appropriation sessions.

Temitope ended the post with a passionate plea, invoking the spirit of justice and fairness:
“Haba, Governor Dapo Abiodun, e de beru Olorun (Fear God). What you are doing is not fair to Yewaland, and history will remember.”

Observers have noted that since the release of the post, no official statement has been issued by the Ogun State Government or any of the mentioned individuals, further fueling anger and disappointment across Yewaland.

Many are now calling on socio-political groups such as the Yewa People’s Development Congress (YPDC), YAYAF, Yewa Think Tank, and various community development associations to break their silence and demand immediate redress.