The transition that must not fail… 

By: Arabambi Abayomi

IN Nigeria’s legal profession, few distinctions command as much respect. Recently I was in the Oke-Mosan area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, standing in front of the Kings’ Court Estate, watching workers lay the final blocks. A young man, probably in his late thirties walked past me and stopped to stare at the buildings. He was not dressed like someone who would ever live there. His shirt was torn at the sleeves, and his slippers were held together by what looked like fishing wire. But he stood there for a long time, just looking. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, “I want to see what my children will inherit.” I have not been able to forget that young man. He reminded me of something I have known for a long time but often choose to ignore. The people of Ogun State do not care about who sits in the Governor’s Office. They do not care about party affiliations or campaign promises. What they care about is whether the roads they use will be there tomorrow. Whether the hospitals will still be standing when they need them. Whether the houses that are being built today will be maintained long after the current governor has returned to private life.

Governor Dapo Abiodun is now at the end of his eight-year journey. He has accomplished what many before him could not, often by completing what others abandoned. The PMB Estate in Abeokuta, a project started by the previous administration, was left in a state of neglect. Today, it stands as a completed development of over 100 4&5 bedroom fully en-suite duplexes with modern facilities. PMB Estate is indeed a rise from comatose to a bubbling life. Kudos to the incumbent administration, which through the Ministry of Housing and the Ogun State property and investment corporation. (OPIC) has turned the once derelict housing project to an architectural masterpiece! The Gateway Medical Centre of Excellence (formerly 250-bed specialist hospital) was another inherited project left with significant structural and engineering gaps. Governor Abiodun saw it through and it is now set to be commissioned as a world-class medical facility.

Not far from the hospital, the Kings’ Court Estate at Oke-Mosan is completed; and the regenerated housing estate at GRA Ibara is visible to anyone who cares to see. In Ilaro, Ijebu Ode, Sagamu, gateway aviation village, Iperu and Kobape over 4,000 housing units have been built and delivered to subscribers. The prince court estate, Kemta, Idi Aba, inaugurated in 2021 as the first phase of 300 housing units, added to this growing list. The housing corporation four stories new head office complex with a resource center, banking hall and others is under construction, while ISEYA Court at Oke-Mosan adds to the structures that bear the Gov Abiodun’s imprint.

These are not imaginary achievements, they are concrete, visible and verifiable. And they deserve to be acknowledged. But a governor is not judged solely by what he completes. He is judged by what survives him. This is where the challenge of transition becomes critical. Since 1999, no governor in Ogun State has successfully handed over power without hostility. The pattern is well documented. A governor leaves office, and the successor, whether from the same party or an opposing one arrives with a determination to erase the previous man’s legacy. Projects are abandoned, contracts are reviewed and achievements ended up being downplayed. The cycle of waste continues, and the people – the same people who stood and watched the buildings rise – are left to watch them decay. Governor Abiodun has an opportunity to break this pattern. He can become the first governor in Ogun’s democratic history to hand over not just a list of projects, but a well-functioning state that the next administration can build upon. This is not about partisan loyalty, it is about governance and the simple recognition that public infrastructure belongs to the people, not to the politicians who commission them.

To achieve this, the governor would do well to turn his attention to certain unfinished matters that could otherwise undermine his legacy. The demolition and reconstruction of the State House of Assembly Quarters and the construction of Judges’ Quarters are projects that deserve priority attention before May 29th 2027. Getting them done now would spare the incoming administration the burden of starting from scratch and allow them to focus on governance from day one. These are not minor details. Judges and Assembly members are not dignitaries in need of luxury. They are public servants whose ability to function effectively depends on the quality of the environment in which they work. If these quarters are left unfinished, the next governor will inherit a problem. And we all know what happens to problems left for successors in this state.

Then there is Block E at the State Secretariat. I visited the secretariat three weeks ago, and I was struck by the contrast. Buildings on either side of Block E at the state secretariat Oke-Mosan are functional. Workers come and go. Files are moved. Decisions are made. But Block E stands abandoned, a ghost in the middle of a busy government complex. One wonders what the plan is for this building. Will it be completed, or will it be left as a monument to what could have been? Beyond these physical structures, there are policy issues that deserve attention before the governor leaves office. The state of schools in the local government areas calls for improvement. Health centres, especially in rural areas, require renovation and an injection of health workers.

Workers’ welfare, a subject that has been discussed endlessly in government circles, remains a matter of unfinished business.  Internal roads in several parts of the state also need to be completed in record time.

 The governor has shown he can deliver on infrastructure – finishing strong in these areas would cement his legacy.I am not one to overlook the good that has been done. Governor Abiodun has delivered more in housing under the leadership of Jagunmolu Akande Omoniyi, the energetic, ever versatile, bold and undisputed best Commissioner for Housing since the creation of Ogun State. The Gateway Agro-Cargo Airport is a vision that will transform the state’s economy if properly managed. The dry ports at Kajola and Mojoda are strategic investments that will position Ogun as a logistics hub. The road network connecting previously inaccessible communities is a significant achievement – over 1,500 kilometres of roads have been completed or rehabilitated under his watch.  

•Dr Arabambi writes in from Abeokuta, Ogun State.