The publicity around the 40th anniversary of the creation of Ogun State by the state government has set me thinking. It created a rush of memories. I was about ten years old actually, a primary four pupil, when the announcement of Ogun State as one of the three created from the old Western State was made. In my part of Abeokuta, which had then become the state capital, I doubt if anybody could talk of seeing on television General Murtala Ramat Muhammed as he announced the creation of new states. This is because I can’t remember any household with a television set. Even the black and white one. Oh, maybe there was one in the house of late Chief Akin Majekodunmi and I think the set was more of a status symbol. It was rarely on.
Yet, it was celebration galore. People were generally in a gay mood. The ancient city was going to become a state capital, the seat of a new government, with the implication for attracting development projects, galvanising the local economy and creating new opportunities for individuals.
People were gathered around the redifusion, which was the wireless radio set attached to walls in most houses. For the opinion leaders who had assumed the responsibility of agents of diffusion of new information, discussions were built around the new status of Abeokuta.
In school, during civic studies classes, the names of states and their capital cities, as well as of the military governors, also changed. There were now 19 states. No longer 12 states. New States like Ondo, Ogun, Niger, Imo, Cross River, Gongola and Benue joined the older 12 states whose names also changed. I and my colleagues began to adapt and memorise the changes in the Nigerian federation.
As young as I was, I had my own group in which we frequently discussed national events and issues. I remember in that group, there was Foluso Feyisitan. There was Kehinde Kafidipe who is now a military officer, Akeem Ogunsiji, and Kehinde Ladipo. Foluso could speak English very well and knew a lot about the military. He had come to join us from a private school in Lagos. That was the era when public schools were better run than private schools.
At that time the military guys had become the ruling elite. We would gather together and share stories about the military. Those stories became juicier with the death of General Muhammed and the trial of the coup plotters that followed. From a brochure from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) that Foluso brought to school, I knew all military ranks in the order of their hierarchy. We had picture clips of all military men who were members of the then Supreme Military Council, the federal commissioners and the military governors.
The creation of Ogun State and the emergence of my town as the new state capital rekindled new interest in public affairs in some young lads like me. Like some of the older men around us, this new status of our town raised a lot of hope. It inspired aspirations. It opened new vistas and possibilities. Many families welcomed their kinsmen who had hitherto lived and worked in Ibadan and other provinces. They returned to Abeokuta by transferring their services to the newly created state. Some came to join the civil service. That was a good example of the creation of states as bringing governance closer to the people.
I am sure that many Nigerians believed that shortly after the creation of Ogun State it would become the number one state in terms of holistic development. This is because of the history and antecedents of her forebears.
The saying that when you take Ogun State out of Nigeria, then what is left is not worth much is perhaps arguable, but not without some merit. The State is the home of the longest serving Nigerian leader, former President Olusegun Obasanjo who served Nigeria as both a military Head of State and an elected President. He was then Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters and became Head of State less than two weeks after the creation of the state. Ogun is also the home of Chief Ernest Shonekan who is the only non-elected civilian head of the Nigerian government till date. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whose government introduced free education and initiated many pioneering development projects in Nigeria, was from the State. Others like the only Nigerian to have won a Nobel laurel, Professor Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka; the first Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Adetokunbo Ademola; the first Nigerian to sit on the Supreme Court bench, Justice Olufunmi Jibowu; the first African specialist in Psychiatric medicine, Professor Adeoye Lambo, who later became Deputy Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO); the first Nigerian to head the Civil Service, Chief Simeon Adebo, who later represented the country at the United Nations; the first Nigerian Chartered Accountant, Sir Akintola Williams; the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and her three prominent children, Olikoye, Olufela and Bekololari; the first woman Chartered Accountant in Nigeria, Mrs. Toyin Olakunrin; and the first woman to head a bank in Nigeria, Chief (Mrs.) Ayoka Kuforiji-Olubi, were all produced for Nigeria by Ogun State.
The first Nigerian to own a bank, Chief M. A. Okupe who started the Agbonmagbe Bank; the first Nigerian to own a merchant bank, Otunba Subomi Balogun; the owner of Globacom telecommunications, Otunba Mike Adenuga; and the founders of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Fola Adeola and late Tayo Aderinokun were and are all from Ogun State. Pioneers in the Entertainment industry, like Chief Hubert Ogunde and stars like Asa, D’Banj and Ayinde Wasiu all have Ogun State as origin.
With these array of Nigerian leaders in the professions, industry and business, so much is expected from the state. Many believe it should lead the other states in the area of administration, infrastructural development, service delivery to the people and a modernised economy. The State has lived up to expectations in some areas and at some times, she has also failed the people in others.
For example, shortly after the creation of the State, the military government established a radio station, the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) and later the Olabisi Onabanjo administration added the state television service. Immediately, both OGBC and OGTV seized and dominated the nation’s airwaves. They became the “Nation’s Model Stations” and almost all of the people who are big players in the broadcasting industry today either cut their teeth in OGBC and OGTV or learnt from a professional who had earlier gone through the two stations.
Incidentally, the two stations have become a shadow of their old selves and cannot compete against the new, well equipped privately owned stations. That is one challenge the present government needs to tackle as we celebrate Ogun at 40. These two stations remain part of the landmark institutions in the state.
Also, in terms of real development, Ogun State had a major leap during the Onabanjo era. The state qualified as one of the most rapidly developing units of the Nigerian federation in the period between 1979 and 1983. The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) government established a state university, and developed modern markets in Abeokuta and Ijebu Ode. In the area of education, not only was the state polytechnic the best in the country in some courses, the free education at the primary and secondary school levels provided qualitative education. Students came from as far as the then Bendel State, now Edo and Delta States, to Ogun State to benefit from qualitative education. Many new secondary schools were created to correct the shift system that obtained before October 1, 1979.
Many of the rural areas were made accessible and provided with electricity under the rural development programme of the UPN. In fact, it could be said that while the military governments of the then Colonels Seidu Ayodele Balogun and Harrison Eghagha supervised the take-off of the new state, Onabanjo and his team actually laid the foundation on which today’s Ogun State was built. In fact, Ogun State is a perfect example to demonstrate the belief that if the military had not intervened in 1983, the country would have solved some of the problems that have continued to bedevil her and achieved true development.
However, that is not to say that the various military governments did not contribute to the development of the state. The State Polytechnic, now known as Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, the OGBC, June 12 Cultural Centre, Mudashiru Lawal Stadium, Sam Ewang Estate, Adigbe Estate and many other projects across the three Senatorial Districts came into existence under various military administrations. Between 1999 and now, the State has been led by three civilians, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and the incumbent, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
Each of these men has done his bit to contribute to the development of the state. From Osoba’s efforts in rural development to Daniel’s urban development projects and Amosun’s Mission to Rebuild the state, there have been consistent attempts to lift the state up so that it does not continue to be the weaker one when compared to her close neighbour, Lagos.
There is no doubt that the last four years have been momentous ones for the state. The Amosun government has embarked on ambitious landmark projects, some of which I heard President Muhammadu Buhari will be commissioning today.
Since 2002, there have been conscious efforts by various administrations to lift the State to a level where she can benefit from the tremendous opportunities that abound in the commercial capital of Nigeria, Lagos. Now, the driving philosophy is to move Lagos, feed and house Lagos. The objective is to make Ogun to Lagos what New Jersey is to New York. There is also talk of an Ogun Standard, being a notch above the Nigerian Standard, and in fact being the harbinger of getting Nigeria to comply with global best practices.
The realisation that it is a shame for Ogun State to be the weaker link to Lagos or house the ghettoes of Lagos as the State of Aquatic Splendor continues to modernise and raise the stake to meet the requirement of a mega city is perhaps one of the most recent achievements of Ogun State at the turn of its 40th anniversary.
The efforts to rebuild its infrastructure, reawaken the pride of its people and create a modern economy that can absorb the thousands of youths who graduate yearly from the numerous private and public higher institutions in the state are commendable. There is still so much that can be done in the state. In fact, its development is still a work in progress. I wish more attention would be paid to rural development, particularly since some of the rural areas are closer to Lagos than the major towns. Also, much more should be done in the education sector. It is our unique selling point since the Awolowo era in the Western region. Tenement as a source of consistent revenue can still be explored.
How I wish the process of evolving its leadership at all levels can also be more refined so as to allow for an all-inclusive participation where the best can be easily selected at all times.
Long live Ogun State! Long live Nigeria!.
Yusuph Olaniyonu, the immediate past Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Ogun State, is Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President.
