When Senator Ibikunle Amosun mounted the soap box in 2011, he declared that he was a man on a mission to rebuild Ogun State and lead her to its pride of place in the comity of states in Nigeria. Since the good people of Ogun State gave the soft-spoken senator the mantle to lead the state, he has not relented. Like a missionary on an assignment, he clearly spelt out his objectives before commencing the job. His mission was hinged on five cardinal points which are: to provide affordable quality education, efficient healthcare delivery, increased agricultural production/industrialisation, affordable housing/urban renewal, rural and infrastructure development and employment generation.
Equipped with this five point agenda and cognisant of his mission, Senator Amosun hit the ground running. From when he commenced this arduous assignment till date, Amosun has not relented. He is still on the run, and running so fast that his peers have difficulty matching his pace.
In the first 100 days of the Amosun administration, 50 health centres were rehabilitated across the state and provided with boreholes, toilets, generators etc. A comprehensive healthcare centre has been completed in Abeokuta and the same facility will be replicated in the nine federal constituencies in the state. Ogun today leads South West in routine immunisation and reduction in major childhood diseases. Drugs, equipment, machines, advanced life support ambulances, training recruitment, community health insurance schemes etc. have been introduced to enhance the healthcare needs of the good people of Ogun.
In the education sector, Ogun now has free education in all public secondary and primary schools with free text books. Over 2,000 teachers have been recruited and unified examinations have been introduced. Schools have been renovated and upgraded, new ones have been built and facilities such as computers, library and science equipment provided.
Today, Ogun is perceived as a huge construction site because of the huge investment in infrastructure that is on-going. To date, 10 fly-over bridges have been completed, shopping malls now operate in Sapon, Omida, Isale-Igbein, and numerous roads with drainages, walk-ways, flower beds, street lights, bus stops dot the length and breadth of the state.
The state is now more secure than it has ever been, due to the massive investment in the sector and the establishment of a security trust fund. The state procured security gadgets worth N4 billion, bought 13 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and 200 security patrol vans to enhance security.
Due to the investment drive of the government, over 57 major industries have opened offices, each investing over $100 million. The World Bank recently listed Ogun as one of the five most favourable places to do business in Nigeria. The state has set up a N1 billion Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) loan scheme with the Bank of Industry (BoI) and created over 10,000 direct and 70,000 indirect jobs.
In the housing sector, the state is leading with the completion of estates, legislative quarters and various other on-going housing projects.
In the bid to put her arable land to good use, the administration has established a farm settlement at Owowo for graduate farmers, two-tonne feed mill at Kotopo, Cotton ginnery at Ibara-Orile, 150 hectares for maize and cassava, 50 hectares of cocoa in Alagbata, 50 hectares of cashew in Afon, Eriwe Fish Pond in Ijebu-Ode, 100 hectares of land for rice in Eggua as well as equipment such as tractors, bulldozers etc. A N1 billion agricultural loan is available for farmers to draw from.
Today, as Amosun traverses the length and breadth of Ogun, the question on everyone’s lips is whether he can keep and sustain this pace in his second term?
These concerns are not far-fetched because it is common practice for political office holders voted into office on account of their achievements in the first term to slow down the pace of development, as they no longer need the mandate of their people since there is no third term.
Will Amosun relent if he secures a second term? I doubt not. For one, Amosun is a man on a mission, and missionaries do not relent or abandon their causes. They are always very persistent despite the odds, and Senator Amosun has demonstrated this doggedness in various ways.
Second, a great number of projects he has embarked upon are in their initial stages, because of the grandiose nature of the projects. A lot still has to be done to ensure completeness of the projects, and the next four years are barely enough for the projects to be delivered as promised.
The president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Femi Adesina, made a profound statement recently. According to him, the standard laid by the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration in Ogun is worthy of emulation by other states. Amosun has set benchmarks below which no future government in Ogun must can go. The Amosun years, so far, can truly be declared as golden. The governor has made a difference in the state, and that is quite commendable.
Adesina continued: “If the Ogun standard is about quality, integrity, about the ideal, then it is something to recommend to the rest of the country.”
If Amosun set the standard that is so highly acclaimed worldwide, do we expect him to go below that well applauded standard if given a second term? As he traverses the length and breadth of Ogun seeking another mandate come rain, come shine, by day or night, he does not appear as one to be bitten by the second term bug that often causes political office holders to adopt lazy, care-free attitudes in the performance of their functions in their second terms.