Amosun as Ogun gov: A mission to rebuild accomplished?

There is a correlation in the views once expressed by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and an American historian, Arthur M. Schlesinger about their individual countries. Exacerbated by the leadership deficit in Nigeria, Soyinka bemoaned what he perceived as “a wasted generation in Nigeria,” a view that was almost akin to the poser raised by Schlesinger about his country at a point in time: ‘why should our age be without great men.’ Great men, like the golden fish, have no hiding place. Where genuine leadership subsists, good governance is often taken for granted, even though, quality leadership is not without a share of burden, especially in a plural society like Nigeria. Such challenge is, perhaps, part of the cross the outgoing governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun is to carry as he begins to wind down after eight years of being in the saddle. After all, a British-born cleric and witty writer, Sidney Smith says Politics is a messy business, and life is short.

Vision

The countdown to May 29, 2019 change of guard has begun. It is recalled that Amosun came into office with the slogan, Mission to Rebuild; with the primary goal of taking Ogun to a higher pedestal. This informed what he ascribed as his vision to bequeathing a legacy imbued in longevity without compromising global quality and standard.  For instance, he said part of the vision was to construct new bridges and flyovers that meet the vehicular traffic demand of the state for the next 50 to 100 years. He observed: “I heard some people saying why he is doing all these bridges? They don’t know that we are looking beyond now, we are looking even to the next 50 years, I don’t know of anybody in the next 100 years after what we’re doing now. It is just to maintain it. ‎“There has been administration upon administration. Yes, I thank God for what they did. Indeed, we still use some of the roads they did. We ply the Ijoun axis, Chief Segun Osoba did about 10 km there and that is part of 110 km we are doing.” In taking stock, Amosun also X-rayed the impact of his administration in generating employment in the face of the expected ripple effects. In his words, “I am sure since we have been there (office), we have created more than 500,000 jobs for our people. I am not talking about liberal jobs. These are jobs that people can begin to plan and say this is my life, I want to build this.” This is complemented by the pragmatic steps taken by him to tackle insecurity. There cannot be any development if the infrastructure are not there. Now that infrastructure is there, and security is there, all of those businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, everybody is coming to Ogun State. It is when they come that we will now begin to say we are now creating wealth, employment for our people.”

In a matter of weeks, Amosun will be bidding goodbye to Isale-Igbein, Abeokuta Government Hous in Abeoukta, having spent the maximum two terms of fours each as governor on his Mission to Rebuild mantra, a policy mix, launched about eight years ago. He will be leaving posterity to judge him as he prepares to return to the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, on how he was able to raise the bar of good governance, purposeful leadership and ingrain in the subconscious of the citizenry that Ogun remains number one in the country in terms of leadership by example and a pathfinder, IGR scale, infrastructure and upgrade existing ones and thrust the Gateway State to the next level for consolidation and pathfinder. In the 2019 state budget of NN402 billion tagged Budget of Enduring Legacy, his administration put in place the necessary machinery for the incoming government to earn about N85 billion as Internally Generated Revenue annually.  The governor said the budget would be funded largely through IGR as Ogun now ranks fourth out of the 36 states in terms of IGR. The state is considered the fastest growing industrial state in the country, all thanks to the existing improved infrastructural outlay in the Gateway State.

Empirical evidence abound about how Amosun repositioned the state’s infrastructure at minimal cost, to the chagrin of even critics, who now compare the quality, size and scale of his projects and their positive impact vis-a-vis what critics describe as the poor structures constructed at a stupendous cost by a couple of other governors in the South-West. The steady rise in the profile of Ogun as the point of destination for genuine investors is believed to have been achieved by Amosun through fundamental reforms premised on critical factors of accountability, due process and value addition and orientation via exemplary leadership. His legacy is timeless, especially in urban renewal scheme; housing programme and efforts at strengthening the state’s internal security, block leakages and prune government spending.  From the onset, he gave an insight into the primary objective of his Home Ownership Charter Programme: “We put in place Home Owners Charter because we realised that a lot of people have built homes without relevant approval and papers. It wasn’t to demolish any structure. It is a scheme aimed at empowering our people, putting higher values on their property and helping to generate enumeration statistics.  In areas like Magboro, Aseese and many of our border areas that are unplanned, we appreciate that government had abdicated its responsibility and that is why people built in the manner they did. We plan to do something called ‘envelope urban renewal system’. That means development that will take the peculiarity of that particular area into cognisance and try to fashion out some order in the prevailing disorderliness.

One area many have continuously lauded Amosun is on security issues. He saw security and infrastructure are sine quo non for economic growth and development of any society, so the governor made the twin issue a priority. Shedding light on the scorecard of his administration in that regard, the governor: “No doubt, we have achieved what we had hitherto been made to believe is impossible. Already, we have set a high standard, the Ogun Standard, with which all government efforts must be benchmarked. We now stand at the doorway to the fulfilment of our vision. However, we must realize that we cannot rest on our oars. The new lease of life and wind of positive change blowing in our state should not be allowed to deceive us into believing that we have reached our destination. We must jointly resolve and collectively commit ourselves to take Ogun State to a greater height. This means we can achieve all our aspirations and desires if we work towards them with determination, vigour and strong commitment. It is therefore, important that we continue to work hand-in-hand with the same, and even greater, zeal and together, we will take our dear State to the Promised Land.”

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Similarly, the governor realized that the proximity of Ogun to Lagos held a lot of promise and potential for boosting the economy of the state. This was despite that the factor constituted a double edged-sword: one, Ogun would have to latch on the proximity factor to attract big portfolio investors from Lagos as the nation’s commercial hub; just as its nearness to Ogun posed a major security challenge, given the scale of threat to security of lives and property in Lagos because of its sprawling population and huge number of unemployed residents, especially restive youths. Amosun was, however, not discouraged by the latter factor. According to him, “Only two states are investing in security more than Ogun State in Nigeria today. These are Lagos and Rivers States. We met 19 rickety Hilux vans provided for the use of the police when we came in 2011. Today, we have over 300 brand new Hilux vans equipped with communication facilities. We have 13 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) in place today. No state in Nigeria has the type of APC we have. It is a 2011 technology, the very latest technology from the USA.”

With less than 60 days to his exit from office, Amosun says there is no slowing down in the tempo of his administration. He has drawn a parallel between the intervals to a national athlete, representing the country in long-distance races such as 500 metres, 5,000 metres and 18,000 metres. To underscore his zeal and commitment to the service of his fatherland, he recently led members of his cabinet, including Permanent Secretaries to inspect ongoing projects, among them, the Ijebu-Imushin/Owu-Ikija, Balogun-Kuku, Ikangba, Italapo, Degun and Oke-Aje Market roads.  He said: “All the drainages are ready; we are now ready for asphalting. All our landmark projects, such as the 250-bed ultramodern hospital, the Judicial Complex, the Ogun State Television Complex, Ogere International Market, Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia and the Adire/Kampala Modern Market would be completed and inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari,” Amosun assured during tour. And his government is believed to have attracted many companies to the state.”

Court of public opinion

Some critics claim Amosun concentrated development efforts in cities, especially Abeokuta that the state capital; that he failed to appreciate that the majority of the population of the state reside in rural arrears and are basically peasants. Other adversaries claim his flyovers spread across the senatorial zones constitute a waste of scarce resources, as the volume of vehicular movement on those flyovers and routes outside the state capital is infinitesimal to warrant locating the bridges there. To them, the fund spent on those structures should have been used to empower the people directly as a way of fighting poverty and unemployment, especially among the youths. Others claim he does not delegate functions sufficiently. But his admirers fault such critics since the buck stops on the table of every leader. In all the circumstances and issues raised by critics, supporters of the governor insist Amosun remains altruistic in steering the ship of state. On criticisms that the huge fund expenditure on the flyovers should have been used for social intervention schemes, his admirers say his critics missed the point because there is a plethora of programmes designed by the administration on those areas. They added that those structures form part of an overall package and mix designed to create the enabling environment for investment thereby boosting employment and opening up other parts of the state to fast-track economic growth and development.

Another hitherto ground for critics of the leadership style of Amosun was the Urban Renewal Programme of his administration, which had to demolish a number of structures in the cities and towns to pave way for modern infrastructure and housing estates. The critics had alleged that the scheme lacked a human face, but the governor soon proved his traducers wrong when persons whose houses were demolished by the government to make way for Muhammadu Buhari Estate in the Kobape, Obafemi-Owode local government area, were compensated and relocated a few meters from the new estate into newly constructed houses. Under Operation 40:40 of the Amosun regime, President Buhari inaugurated 40 legacy projects spread across the three senatorial districts of the state in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the creation of Ogun.

Beyond the performance mantra, Amosun cannot lay claim to perfection. He has his own foibles like any other mortals, and his traducers often took time to hit him below the belt based on reasons ranging from the sublime to the ludicrous. However, he usually takes those hard punches with relative equanimity by providing information and explanation to justify his leadership style. For instance, he strongly defended his Urban Renewal Programme with a painstaking explanation thus: “Why am I being castigated? Abeokuta was made the State capital over 40 years ago and the only offence I have committed is to have developed Abeokuta, but I tell you, no sane governor will neglect Abeokuta, else that governor will see the result. I have never neglected other areas. We have one of the best flyovers and roads of our administration in Sagamu. There are two flyovers in Ijebu Ode with good roads and the same things are done in Ijebu Igbo and Yewa. What we’ve done is that when we do three things in Abeokuta, we do two or one in other places and we are running around day and night to get this done. I am not the first governor in Ogun State but I appreciate what they’ve done. No governor worth his salt will abandon Abeokuta.”

A resident of the state, Tajudeen Ilugun observed that Ogun had been transformed through a thoughtfully executed blueprint to re-engineer the economic, infrastructure and industrial sectors of the state hence, Ogun has become the fastest growing industrial hub in South-West of the country. He noted that the state’s IGR has also massively improved, just as Security and infrastructure renewal have become the norm. “From being one of the states with high notoriety for armed robbery, kidnapping, ritual killings and sundry crimes, Ogun has been largely transformed under Amosun’s watch into a peaceful state where citizen safety and protection of business facilities are great priorities of government. That Ogun has become peaceful today owes largely to an effective governance style that promotes selfless and unbiased commitment to all segments of the state, fairness in deployment of state resources and a clear infrastructure re-modelling mission blueprint,” Ilugun stressed.

Another major stakeholder, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, who is a maritime expert, acknowledged the “enduring transformation of the state’s economy, including agriculture, industrialisation and housing,” maintaining that Amosun carved an enviable identity for the state as a pathfinder and the first port of call by investors and tourists. “Governor Amosun made it clear at the inception of his administration that he would focus on education, health, agriculture, industrialisation, housing as well as urban renewal and infrastructural development that will lead us to massive employment generation for the people. I think he has acquitted himself well in all these areas. His impact in all the areas reverberates across all three senatorial districts, local governments, LCDAs and wards in the state. He is indeed a man of his words and has demonstrated an unflinching commitment to the development of Ogun State and to the welfare of the people irrespective of where they live or their social standing.” Akinola said.

In eight years as governor, Amosun has played his part in the history of the state. But is he really a misunderstood man, as being claimed by most of his associates, admirers and supporters, in spite of what an observer described as the ample evidence of that his administration spread derivatives of real good governance across the senatorial districts of Ogun State?  in the opinion of another political observer: “Due to its prudence, the Mission To Rebuild team of Governor Ibikunle Amosun used the meagre resources to construct roads, build bridges and standard flyovers, fund education, promote tourism, develop agriculture and generate employment, invest in healthcare, fund affordable housing and ensure peace and security, thereby creating wealth and an atmosphere of socio-economic advancement.”