Amosun: Celebrating a political icon at 62

TRUTH, they say, is incontrovertible that malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. Truth is the time companion that no one can cheat with lies or propaganda.

This is the case of His Excellency, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (FCA, CON), a man who has distinguished himself as defender of truth and an astute politician, reputable for grassroots connection and mobilisation in the Gateway State and by extension, the South-West of Nigeria.

Born on January 25, 1958, Amosun had his primary and secondary education at African Church Primary School and African Church Grammar School, respectively, both in Abeokuta, Ogun State, between 1965 and 1977. He then went to Ogun State Polytechnic and graduated with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accountancy in 1983.

Amosun became a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1996 and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) in 1998.

Senator Amosun did not only defy all odds to succeed, but also ensured he left indelible marks in all areas of his endeavours. He believes that anything that is worth doing at all is worth doing well as evident in his Rebuilding Mission of the Gateway State between 2011 and 2019.

After managing his private businesses successfully and with a consultancy service experience with the World Bank, Amosun ventured into politics to better the lives of his constituents; and little had he started his political journey that success became his partner. Since 1999, no one dares talk about the political space of Ogun without the mention of this great Owu man, Amosun.

He is guileless and blunt in defending a cause. He is a reliable General, who does not forget his soldiers. This is typical in his journey from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and later to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which transformed into the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is a trusted ally, a dauntless General, a fearless and courageous leader and a great rebuilder. From the start of his political adventure till the moment, he has one stable character, and that is loyalty to the masses and whatever he chooses as a cause.

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While serving as governor of the Gateway State, he transformed the state’s economy from a dwindling state to a robust and stable one by clinching the third rank in revenue generation in the country.

Security was his administrative priority, as he ensured total orderliness and safety of lives and properties. He left Ogun State as the second most secure state in Nigeria in 2019, having met it at number 32 in 2011. As a beneficiary of free education programmes in the 60s and 70s, Amosun ensured the sustenance of free education agenda in public primary and secondary schools across the state and drastically reduced the state-owned higher institutions’ fees by over 40 per cent in most cases after abolishing the discrepancies between indigenes and non-indigenes provisions created by his predecessor.

Infrastructural development was rapid in his government so much so that after almost eight months of leaving office, engineers and contractors are still working day and night on projects funded by his administration.

To live up fully to expectations, Amosun was the voice of the Ogun West governorship agenda in 2019, as he gave all his might and resources to fight the obvious marginalisation of a region that is yet to attain the exalted position in the state. He smartly sold the agenda to the public and he was loved by all for standing up for the Yewa and Awori.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy,” Senator Amosun fought against some “wolves” in 2019. For this, the people of Ogun West and posterity will forever smile on him. He was insulted, envied and betrayed by many and, in fact, many Generals sprung up to wrestle power from him, but they were no match for Senator Amosun, the Generalissimo of the Gateway State.

Congratulations to our Gateway State Generalissimo on his 62nd birthday. I wish you many more prosperous years ahead sir.

•Adelani, media aide to Honourable Adekunle Akinlade, writes from Abeokuta North, Ogun State