Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday pitied the Ogun West Senatorial District of Ogun State over its inability to produce a Governor since the birth of the state 48 years ago.
The Daily Crucible reports that the first civilian Governor of the state was Victor Olabisi Onabanjo of blessed memory. He hailed from Ijebu Ode in Ogun East. Aremo Olusegun Osoba from Egba, Ogun Central, also governed the state. He was succeeded by Otunba Gbenga Daniel from Sagamu in Ogun East.
Daniel who is now a Senator, handed power over to Senator Ibikunle Amosun, an Owu son from Ogun Central, who in turn, handed the baton of power to the incumbent governor Dapo Abiodun from Iperu in Ogun East.
The question is:Who succeeds Abiodun? Already, Hon. Ladi Adebutu from Iperu in the same Ogun East is still nursing an ambition to govern the Gateway State in 2027 after his failed bid to clinch it in 2023. Will power remain in Ogun East till 2031 or return to the Central as is the routine after every turn of the East? Will the West have it in 2027?
Obasanjo said unless Ogun East (Ijebu and Remo) and Ogun Central (the Egba) yielded ground, the Ogun West will not make it in the determination to put one of its sons or daughters in Okemosan Governor’s Office come 2027 or any other time in future.
The elder statesman spoke when he received in his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, six federal lawmakers from the House of Representatives led by Hon Ugochinyere Ikenga, representing Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State.
He recalled that he laboured to ensure that a former ECOMOG Commander from the zone, General Tunji Olurin of blessed memory, becomes a governor in 2011 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but failed as Olurin lost the election to Senator Ibikunle Amosun from Ogun Central.
Obasanjo said, “I have said it and I will keep saying it, we are all sitting on a keg of gun powder all of us. If we continue to do what we are doing which is disregarding of the common man, disregarding the interest of the common man. We want to bring another person from the point you have made. We in Ogun State here, between the Central and Ogun East is where they have been getting governor. We have ignored the West. And the truth is this, by population unless the Central and East yield ground to the West, they will never make it but for me what is important is good governance.
“I will agree with that yes, let it go round and if he doesn’t perform, remove him. May be there are few other states like that. Kogi is one. Benue is one. Borno is one. Yes, Borno is like that too where people from certain areas (may not govern) and unless there is a yielding of opportunity. I tried here (Ogun) with late Olurin. I said, look he is from the West. We didn’t make it. I don’t know whether putting it in our constitution that it should be North – South rotation for the President and Senatorial District rotation for the Governor will work but what I hope is that we will put it by convention rather than by (constitution).”
The ex – President also declared that the problem of Nigeria is not in the tenure of a President or the Governors but in the attitude of leaders and the rest of the citizens to governance.
Obasanjo said without the right attitudinal change by Nigerians, the much desired quality governance that will engender rapid and steady transformation of the country for the benefits of all may remain elusive.
According to him, the country cannot make any progress if there are no perceptible positive changes in the way of governance.
The former president said that the nation’s challenges would also be surmounted, if Nigerians engaged in honest self appraisal, decarbonize and washed themselves clean of bad characters and turned new leaves to do the right thing always.
He said the call by the lawmakers for a single term presidency; one day election across the country; power rotation between the North and the South, were not sufficient to provoke the right attitudinal changes needed to reposition the nation on the right path.
Obasanjo added that what Nigeria needed most are good leaders and good team, recalling that during his era, the administration was able to accomplish its best because he assembled a good team to help him move the nation forward.
He said, “What I know about Nigeria is that we need to get it right in terms of leadership and the team. The point is that in a spate of two and half years, we will put all these challenges behind us.
“In another 10 years, we need to consolidate what we have achieved a few years back, and in 25 years, we are there.
Our problem is that we take two steps forward and one step outside and probably two or three steps backward, and that won’t get us anywhere.
“For me, it is not so much of the system, except we have a rethink of what we call Democracy. We have to rethink what we call the Western Liberal Democracy where we talk about loyal opposition.
“In African system, what we do is that we sit down and do what we call consensus . We need to join hands together to make things work.
“If we get it right, whether we have one term of six year presidency or two terms of four years, where we need to work on our mentality.We have to decarbonize our brain. Our main problem is ourselves. Until we take care of ourselves, it doesn’t matter the term of office, if it is the same people, same mentality, it won’t change. Our beginning is ourselves.”
The former president urged Nigerians to endeavour to elect leaders always, who are known to have pedigree and characters and capable of finding enduring solutions to the many challenges plaguing the nation.
He insisted that Nigeria will only move forward when people with upright characters and good role models are put in positions of power, noting that number of terms spent in office will amount to nothing, if wrong persons are made leaders.
Ikenga, in his welcome remarks, said they were in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital to express their solidarity to the former president and equally learn from his fountain of strong knowledge on development and good governance.
The lawmaker said Obasanjo saw the future of the country and worked towards it having being in the helms of affairs as the President in 1999.
He commended the former president for the various reforms put in place under his administration, blaming successive governments for not consolidating on them in the interest of Nigerians.
“If there have been consolidation on electricity reforms, foreign policies, civil service reforms and digital reforms among others by successive government , today, we will not be in the economic challenge that is fighting us.
“If not for the foundation you laid in 1999, things would have been worse and at that time you are doing it, most people do not see the future of Nigeria. We can see your effort in the telecommunication reform transformation in the country. That you did in the civil service reforms; the establishment of anti -corruption agencies,” he added.
Ikenga informed Obasanjo the lawmakers were co-sponsors of bills seeking for a single term of six years for president and governors, power rotation between the northern and the southern parts of the country and one day for presidential, governorship, national assembly and houses of assembly elections, to eradicate bandwagon effects.
Other lawmakers in attendance were Honourables Abdulmalik Danga representing Adavi/Okehi); Dr. Usman Midala (Askira -Uba/Hawul); Hon. Peter Aniekwe (Anambra East /West) and Kama Nkemkanma (Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo) federal constituencies.
