L-R: Ogun State Head of Service (HoS), Mr. Kehinde Onasanya; Deputy Governor, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Governor Dapo Abiodun, and his wife, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, during the 64th birthday and 5th year Thanksgiving Service of the governor, held at the Government House Chapel, Oke-Igbein, Abeokuta, on Sunday
* Challenging, but most beautiful experiences – Governor
By Nudoiba Ojen
As always, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, in Sunday returned all praises of his five years of governance in the state to God.
Abiodun , who described the past five years of his administration as challenging, added that his faith in God had brought the victory he desired.
He spoke during his 64th Birthday and 5th Year Thanksgiving Service held in his honour at the Ogun State Government House Chapel, Oke-Igbein, Abeokuta, on Sunday.
Governor Abiodun recalled his journey to power despite all odds, attributing his victory to God Almighty.
He said: “The process through which I emerged as Governor was a very unusual one; one in which my predecessor who was in the same party with me was fighting me and campaigning for another person in another party, and I will sit down and ask myself, ‘Baba God, this is very unusual, why do I have to go through so much to assume this office?’ And then I will answer myself that it is because God wants to take that glory.
“The last five years of governance over the state of Ogun for me has been one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. It’s been extremely turbulent, it’s been very challenging, particularly, it has been rancorous. But the most important thing is that in all of this, God has given us victory.”
Abiodun said his government was taking giant steps to reshape the economy of the state and that the steps were yielding results.
One of such steps, according to him, is the plan to make Ogun an oil producing state, as the Ministry of Petroleum Resources would soon begin oil exploration in the state.
The governor said, “Only on Friday, the leadership of the Ministry of Petroleum led by the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, was here with three others and the chairman of Shell to make an announcement that they would soon begin to drill oil in Ogun State”.
Prince Abiodun also seized the opportunity to respond to comments by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last general election, Ladi Adebutu, on the Sagamu-Iperu road project.
Adebutu had criticised the 8-kilometer Sagamu-Iperu road project of the state government.
The governor said his focus was to continue the positive trajectory of the Gateway State and not to dwell on the submission of a man who could not see the over 600km of roads across the length and breadth of Ogun State done by his administration.
Prince Abiodun said he had learnt not to respond to people who had developed the habit of barking whenever they are no longer in the spotlight.
The governor said, “I read on one of the papers that someone was saying that he was embarrassed that I was commissioning an 8-kilometre road, and a counterpart of mine was commissioning a 77-kilometer road,” he said, adding that he had learnt not to respond to such ignorant remarks.
He wondered that despite the stupendous wealth of the Adebutu family, the road that runs through their house was in a deplorable state for a long time and the family could not deploy a fraction of their wealth to repair it.
Governor Abiodun promised that his administration would continue to make life comfortable for the people of the state by embarking on the provision of more infrastructure that would, in turn, improve their well-being.
Earlier in his message, the Shepherd in charge of Grace Baptist Church, Abeokuta, Rev (Dr) Emmanuel Ajayi, who took his sermon from Psalm 92 verse 1, said that it was a good thing to praise the Lord because of who He is.
Rev. Ajayi said that giving thanks to God brings more blessings to those who praise Him.
While calling on the people of God to imbibe the culture of giving thanks to God in their closet, the cleric said that praises help Christians to show their gratitude to God Almighty.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, had, in an earlier statement in response to Adebutu’s comments, said the defeated PDP governorship candidate lacked the requisite mental capacity to assess Governor Abiodun’s performance in office.
He said: “Adebutu’s recent gibberish in the media, where he queried the leadership capability of Governor Dapo Abiodun and his administration’s performance eloquently gives out the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate as a man with little mind and zero cognitive capacity.
“Obviously, no right thinking individual with sound mind could just wake up on the wrong side of his bed and start discrediting what the global community is applauding from all fronts. While we understand the limitations of Oladipupo Adebutu as a certified indolent and overfed brat, we never realized his mannerless tendency had grown to this level of nuisance.
“For crying out loud, what does a man that could not manage an ordinary small-scale business know about the government that superintend the affairs of over six million people in a geographical location of over 16000 square kilometres.
“Adebutu antecedents are majorly rooted in the life of recklessness and uncontrollable verbal diarrhoea, with no single achievement except the free money of his octogenarian father.”
Akinmade also said Adebutu pretended to be blind to the developmental projects and policies of Governor Abiodun in all the sectors of the state’s economy, ignorantly thinking he could score cheap political points and sneak out of his present oblivion.
“Like he himself rightly observed, he should be ashamed of himself for coming from the same town with a personality like Prince Dapo Abiodun, who has showcased leadership acumen and rare sagacity for inclusive governance beyond expectations,” he said.
