Femi Ogbonnikan: Abiodun’s fifth anniversary in sustaining trajectory economic growth

All is now set for the fifth year anniversary of the present administration of the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun. As we all recall, his first (four years) tenure ended on May 29, 2023 with a blaze of glory. Leveraging on the goodwill he had built with the mandate, he won the March 18, 2023 governorship election for his second term. In line with the constitutional requirements, he took another oath of office on May 29, 2023 along with other elected public office holders, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, he will be adding another one year to make up five-year old in office.

Reflective of the mood of the nation, the Federal Government has opted for a low-key celebration. Ogun State will also be modest in its activities to mark the anniversary. For us as a people, the event provides a unique opportunity for the administration to present its scorecard for the first anniversary and beyond. So far, so good! There is no gainsaying the fact that Governor Abiodun has created a clear roadmap for sustainable economic and industrial growth. And, of course, arguably, that is the best that can happen to any state. In the journey of life, one must have a sense of direction to reach his or her desired destinations, for no wind blows in favour of a ship without a destination. In terms of its potential, Ogun State is destined for greatness. The way to fulfill that destiny is to put the right person in the position of leadership. Prince Abiodun represents a bridge between the past and the present. With combined experience of private and public sector players, he has been able to lay a good foundation for the future of the state. We need to join hands with the administration to consolidate its achievements for the next level of development.

This is more so that the administration has been able to initiate and sustain the trajectory of economic growth through aggressive infrastructure development, improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) capacity, industrial investments, human capital development, youth empowerment, improvement in agricultural value chains, land reform policy, Ease-of-Doing-Business, healthcare delivery service, affordable housing and implementation of an integrated transportation master plan, among others.

To begin with his achievements in infrastructure, Governor Abiodun has, no doubt, left his imprints in the sand of time with the networks of road projects spread across the state. Through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative, he has successfully transformed the state’s infrastructure landscape. As of today, over 500 kilometres of roads have been constructed across the state to ease the movement of goods and persons. Apart from internal connectivity, priority has also been given to the highways that connect Ogun with neighbouring states, particularly Lagos. As a result, people can now travel between Lagos and Ogun State in less than an hour for a journey that would hitherto take two or three hours or even more before the advent of the present administration. More and more people are now coming to Ogun State to live, to work and to hold conferences because of easy accessibility.

The real game changer is the construction of the Ogun Agro-Cargo International Airport billed to commence flight operations anytime from now. Though a capital-intensive project, the Airport was built in a record-breaking short period of two years, making it the fastest to be constructed ever in the history of this country. It recorded the first historic flight landing sometime last year. As already projected, the Airport will begin scheduled and non-scheduled flights any time from now, as the approval process to get the airport running has reached an advanced stage.

Governor Abiodun disclosed this at the 13th Gateway International Trade Fair breakfast meeting with chief executive officers, captains of industry, entrepreneurs, investors, and stakeholders alike, held at the Mitros Residences, GRA, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

“Our newly built Gateway International Airport which will soon be commissioned, I believe as a matter of fact, this week, that airport will get approval to begin to operate non-scheduled flights, meaning that private planes can now fly flights and come to that airport, just like they go to any other airport,” he said.

Effort is also ongoing for the flag of the Kajola Inland Container Terminal. When completed, the terminal would allow investors situated within the state an opportunity to pick up their containers, process their raw materials, and also export their goods efficiently. “We will soon be flagging off the Kajola Inland Container,” he said.

He also disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the Special Agro Processing Zone as a Free Trade Zone. “That airport is in a Special Agro Processing Zone. That zone has now been approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a Free Trade Zone, so we have another Free Trade Zone,” he enthused.

In terms of industrial investments, Ogun State currently houses over 6,000 industries, notably the largest cement factories in Nigeria, producing the highest tons of cement. These include Lafarge, Dangote as well as others that are just springing up. The state is equally the home of industrial giants like Nestle, Cadbury, Unilever, May & Baker, International Breweries, Olams, Flour Mills, and a host of others. Already, there is also a projection that the ongoing industrial zone will create between 30,000 and 50,000 new jobs with multiplier effects on the state economy and the country at large. As a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between the state government and private companies, the industrial zone has been chosen as an economic hub with partnerships in different parts of the sub-region, Ivory Coast, Garbon, Togo, Benin Republic and so on.

In fulfillment of his promise to provide decent housing for the citizenry, the administration of Governor Abiodun has built over 4000 affordable houses. While recently playing host to the President of the Royal Institute of British Architect, Mr. Muyiwa Oki, in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, he said his administration had constructed about 3,500 affordable houses at Kobape, a suburb of Abeokuta, and turned the area into a bubbling town, adding that similar projects had been executed in Sagamu, Ota, Ilaro and Ijebu-Ode.

The governor further disclosed that his administration had embarked on an Urban Renewal and Rejuvenation Process across the state, beginning with the old Abeokuta housing scheme, saying new and more sustainable housing projects are being put in place in conjunction with the United Kingdom Development Office.

In pursuit of the target, arrangements have been concluded to ensure that old and dilapidated structures sitting on 30 hectares of land located in a prime area such as GRA Ibara, and occupied by civil servants are reconstructed to change them into a smart city within the belly of Abeokuta, the state capital.

Similarly, efforts are being made to ensure the delivery of the first phase of Gateway Aviation Village with state-of-the-art infrastructural facilities to maximise the value of the estate. According to the Commissioner for Housing, Jagunmolu Akande Omoniyi, the Gateway Aviation Village would complement the Agro-Cargo Airport which would further boost the socio-economic activities in the State, adding that the Estate would empower over 5,000 youth and artisans who will be working on the site. The Best Award in Housing recently received by the State at the 2023 Merit Award organised by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, having defeated Lagos, Edo, Kaduna, and Niger States, testifies to the commitment of the administration to its housing policy.

As expected, healthcare service delivery occupies the topmost priority of the administration of Governor Abiodun. So far, over 100 Primary Health Centres have been rehabilitated, renovated and equipped across 100 wards in the state, while Ilera-Dero, a Health Insurance Scheme, has also been established to enhance accessibility and affordability. Therefore, the recent emergence of Ogun State as the second best in basic healthcare delivery in Southwest at maiden Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum (NGF) Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge Award with a $400,000 UNICEF prize could not have come as a surprise to most people.

The award ceremony was a follow-up to the 2019 Seattle Declarations, involving the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Bill and Melinda Foundation as well as Dangote Foundation with an innovative idea about how to increase the commitment of governors to healthcare delivery across the 36 states of the federation. Under the initiative, the declaration adopted the government’s support and commitment, quality of service delivery, improvement in the health indices and outcomes, and community participation, among other variables, as the basic criteria for the award. Ogun State under the watchful eyes of Governor Abiodun passed the test of scrutiny and walked away with an award plaque and a handsome sum of money. The award plaque and cheque were received on behalf of the state government by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, at an event which was attended by the Country Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, who made the official presentation of the award, officials of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), representatives of international agencies and government top functionaries.”

This is apart from the construction of new structures and renovation of old buildings at the state-owned teaching school, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, provision of ambulances, employment of medical personnel- doctors, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and others- to fill in the vacuum created by the mass exodus of medical personnel who had embarked on the brain-drain syndrome to the Uk, Europe, and America.

Concerned with adequate protection of lives and property, the Abiodun administration has been able to tackle the challenge of insecurity by equipping security agencies with modern gadgets and patrol vehicles. With the establishment of the Security Trust Fund (STF), the state has procured relevant security gadgets, including drones, for security agencies in the state, while also augmenting the allowances and living conditions of security personnel to enhance security and safety in the state.

For three consecutive sessions, the state has routinely maintained its competitive edge over the rest of the country in terms of economic viability and the capacity for Internally Generated Revenue. With the feat, the administration has been able to reconstruct the roadmap to industrialization, focusing on infrastructural development as a catalyst for industrial growth. Based on IGR, Ogun State is now the third largest economy in the country with enhanced capacity for Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), coming only after Lagos, FCT, and Rivers.

Education is the pivot around which other things revolve. With special emphasis on human capital development, Governor Abiodun has ensured that the state maintains its competitive edge over the rest of the states by creating a conducive learning environment for all levels of education. Thus, apart from the free education policy for all children in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools with adequate care for the welfare of teachers, there has also been a progressive increase in allocation to education up to 20 percent of this year’s budget with a commitment to continually do so till the United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) benchmark is achieved.

In his desire to cater to the vulnerable segment of society, Ogun State is one of the few states that have adopted the social investment programme of the Federal Government which is domiciled in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management. The adoption followed the Executive Order recently signed by the Governor in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, to alleviate poverty and hunger by ensuring equitable distribution of resources to the vulnerable, the poor, and the widows, among others.

With a good succession plan following the expiration of his tenure, Governor Abiodun will arguably go down in history as the architect of modern Ogun for reconstructing the roadmap for sustainable industrial growth.

Ogbonnikan writes from Abeokuta, Ogun State capital