OGUN STATE @50. A PRAYER, A REFLECTION, A CHARGE, By Otunba Segun Showunmi

Oh God, we have come to say thank You for the journey so far.

Thank You for Ogun State at fifty.

Thank You for the men and women who, in their seasons, carried the burden of leadership.

From Saidu Balogun, my Idoani maternal uncle and first governor,

to Olabisi Onabanjo, whose pioneering work laid foundations of planning and purpose;

to Olusegun Osoba, who gave rural Ogun the attention it deserved;

to Gbenga Daniel, who envisioned a giant rising from what was once a sleepy civil-service state;

to Ibikunle Amosun, audacious in vision and grand in standards;

to the incumbent, Dapo Abiodun, who has worked deliberately to prove that continuity despite political differences is the path to sustainable development.

History may debate styles and politics, but when emotions settle and our disruptive brand of politics gives way to sober reflection, it will become clear especially as we secure our seaport, oil-producing status, and now an airport that this season has been one of intentional, strategic, all-round development.

Lord, thank You for their efforts.

Thank You for our enduring legacy through Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, the grand patron spirit of Ogun State who gave us an anchor, a standard, and the unshakable belief that more is expected of us and better is always possible.

Thank You for Olusegun Obasanjo, whose courage and strength taught us to confront any situation with confidence, anchored in conviction. From him we inherit a belief in one Nigeria and the courage to accommodate others giving Ogun the potential to become a true mega city for all who live here, work here, respect our culture, and call Ogun home.

Thank You for our traditional rulers the Alake of Egbaland, the late Awujale of Ijebuland, and others who have shown us that dignity of carriage, modernity of tradition, and moderation with candor are part of our heritage.

Thank You for our civil servants the bearers of our institutional memory from Degun through Iyabo Odulate, to the men and women who have preserved our administrative legacy and sustained our vision across generations.

Thank You for all of us.

Lord, we are grateful that You have made Ogun State the Jerusalem of Nigeria, home to the greatest concentration of worship centers from the Wonder City of Redemption Camp, to the grandeur of Canaanland, to the Mountain of Fire. For it is not of men, but of God, that people gather to seek, to pray, and to shout Hallelujah in faith.

Thank You, Lord.

Now, we must speak honestly about the future.

We can no longer rest on our oars.

We must be concerned that we have taken our eyes off the ball. Lagos has surged ahead; Ibadan presses to overtake us. Our historic advantage in education has faded, sustained now largely by private investment. We are not re-imagining our grand dream with enough urgency or in step with modernity.

Our benchmark must be clear: a well-run medium-sized European country. That is the standard our legacy demands and only by holding ourselves to it will we be inspired to govern with seriousness, discipline, and purpose.

We have never been and must never become a state of anything goes.

We must not accept cheap propaganda in place of substance.

We must not become a people who procure leaders rather than choose them.

As we mark fifty years, we must soberly reflect that twenty-seven of those years have been under democracy. What, then, is our scorecard especially in local government administration? We should be the national example of local government autonomy. That is what our legacy expects.

We must be the best example in public education.

We must be the benchmark in public health having hosted Nigeria’s first hospital in Lantoro.

We must lead in grassroots sports development, given the heritage of the Abeokuta Sports Club the first of its kind in Nigeria.

We must correct our course in housing, where we now build only for the haves and pretend the have-nots can afford it. That is not who we are.

Our legacy expects better.

As we move forward, we must scale up, recover lost ground, and think generationally. May God grant us the grace that, in another fifty years, a new generation will write even stronger words celebrating what we contributed to Ogun State.

As for me, I will continue to do my part to inspire, to challenge, to remind just as I always have.

So help me, God.

And now I ask you:

What about you?

Yes you. Omo Ogun. Ise ya.

Congratulations to us all.

Ogun State at 50.

May our best years begin now.

Otunba Segun Showunmi @⁨Sagua⁩ 

The Alternative.