– Real Reasons Ogun Governor Beat Others To The Award
By Dr. Lanre Alfred
The cosmos never forgets the daring and thrusts of the valiant. Through every epoch and every hour, his exploits persist, like a true vine ascending the sky on the bark of a sturdy pine.
Prince Dapo Abiodun, the very hardworking governor of Ogun State, makes history every hour, to which he industriously adds page after page, volume after volume, as if nature were holding up a monument to his exploits.
Effortlessly, Governor Abiodun personifies the kernel of Vince Lombardi’s famous quote: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit.”
Even sceptics and naysayers now know and accept that beneath the urbane, smouldering good looks of Governor Dapo Abiodun lies a profound knowledge of the underpinnings for a prosperous state. Add to this is a steely, self-assured commitment to harmonise everything required to build and bequeath a Greater Ogun State for today’s generation and posterity.
Yes, Governor Abiodun’s devotion to his job is an unusual form of virtue. He is the calm that succeeds the storm of Ogun’s season of anomie. He is a great leader, serving with spunk and panache. The one, on whose watch, Ogun attains redemption and undiminished greening.
Since he assumed leadership of the state, he has committed himself actively to the task of salvaging what’s left of Ogun through nurturant governance.
In person, in interviews, and on the screen, inhabiting the role by which he’s become Ogun’s most celebrated governor, Abiodun espouses an uncanny politic. The power and grace of his performance seem to emanate from something he’s made contact with, deep within, intensely private and specific to his experience, but also mysteriously universal to the best of mankind.
There’s something in the innermost human heart that his people connect to. Little wonder, as a further proof of his pragmatic leadership approach and impactful developmental strides, he won the much-talked about The Sun Newspaper’s Governor of the Year Award, last night, Saturday , 17th February, at the prestigious Eko Hotel, Lagos.
According to the ebullient governor, “It is such an honour and incredibly humbling to be amongst the winners of the prestigious The Sun Awards for the year 2023, where I was named Governor of the Year. This recognition serves as a reminder of the importance of our ongoing efforts to improve the lives of the people of Ogun State through the Building Our Future Together Agenda.
It is yet another acknowledgement of our success in creating an enabling environment for investment, and providing democratic governance in line with our vision, not only in Ogun State but also in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole.
Like they often say , the reward for hard work is more work, so we will continue to be relentless in the implementation of policies, programs and reforms to sustain the actualisation of our vision, and increase our ranking on the global Ease of Doing Business index.
As the Chief Marketing Officer of Ogun State, I am inviting you to come and invest in the Gateway State, and you would find us ready, willing and worthy partners.
I would like to appreciate the Almighty God for His grace, the citizens of Ogun state for their continued trust and support, members of my team for their cooperation and hard work, members of my family for their patience and continued understanding, and finally, the The Sun Newspapers for this recognition”.
Interestingly, however, since he assumed office as the executive governor of Ogun State, Abiodun has radiated more dazzling and colourful spectra of light, thus illumining his domain and environs with his fabled mystic.
Cowardice and doubt incinerate in the blaze of his sterling statesmanship, and his personal and political ethics are so firmly anchored on the steadfast rock of conscience and integrity.
It is unsurprising, therefore, that he has established himself as a slayer of administrative ogres and ennobled the corridors of power with unparalleled statecraft since he assumed political office.
Yes, Abiodun bears his talents and achievements modestly, charmingly, and generously. As the executive governor of Ogun State, he conducts himself like a humble servant, who’s unexpectedly approachable and thoroughly delightful company.
Viewing governance through his own lens, and navigating leadership through his peculiar, private ethics, he is able to govern humanely and decisively thus asserting the essence of his leadership and portraying it with deep empathy – irrespective of judgment or commentary bias.
Abiodun is a true gem of a leader. His governance style involves treating every citizen in his domain as a human being searching for his or her place in the world and walking in virtual and administrative lockstep, to make each citizen’s journey a uniquely satisfactory and compelling experience. In a world of divisiveness, his vision for Ogun is something precious. Infinitely precious.
At the advent of his administration, Governor Abiodun understood that the vulnerability of the poor, unemployed and elderly citizens had always been weaponised by Ogun’s previous leadership, to exploit these vulnerable divides and perpetuate the political hegemony that held the state captive for decades.
At his assumption of office, however, he sought to change the narrative by asserting the dignity of these human divides. The pursuit of dignity and rights of these human elements, among other citizenry, constituted the core of his government’s approach to poverty alleviation in the state.
He shunned the culture of tokenism that defined previous administrations in the state and instead, instituted a new social ethic of caring for the good people of Ogun State. He painstakingly nurtured it into a dignifying institutional complex that shelters the people from the onslaught of attention-seeking juggernauts playing to the gallery.
Honestly, there comes a time in the life of a public servant, when his stewardship attains the lustre of a shimmering pearl. Bathed in the soft glow of his feats, he imbues public governance with pearly patina and panache.
A statement released by the newspaper’s awards committee revealed that Abiodun earned the honour due to his capacity to effect consolidation in his state. There is no gainsaying Ogun State has witnessed unprecedented development since Governor Abiodun assumed office at the State House in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, the state’s capital.
There is no gainsaying the Sun Awards have become phenomenal within Nigeria and beyond because of the thorough screening process the winners are subjected to before they are chosen. The award recipients are chosen from all walks of life through a thorough selection process by the Board of Editors of The Sun Publishing Ltd.
The screening, according to the organisers is to ensure that the winners not just merit their award, but are seen to have indeed deserved it.
Thus not a few people have hailed The Sun for choosing Abiodun as the Governor of the Year. The Ogun governor is widely adjudged to be a worthy recipient of the award. And the reasons are not far-fetched.
Amid the desolateness and decline triggered by institutional failure and misgovernance, to mention a few, Governor Abiodun is a welcome deviation from the norm of predators prowling public offices. Every day, he leads with his values and vision, his knowledge and strategic thinking—always putting the citizenry over politics. Governor Abiodun flaunts an incomparable capacity to experiment with capital and human resources, materials, mediums, and processes.
The breathtaking combination of experimental rigour and inspired vision turns his oft-visionary dreams into remarkable projects. Thanks to Abiodun, the melody of efficient governance once again resonates across the nooks and crannies of Ogun State. If his exploits during his first term are worthy of applause, his performance during the first few months of his second term further establishes him as a symbol of hope and inspiration.
It would be recalled that Abiodun three other individuals shortlisted for the prestigious award.
He was nominated for his remarkable achievements in infrastructure development, including a cargo Airport and his commitment to an eco-friendly future, particularly through his emphasis on clean energy solutions.
Indeed, it’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world but Governor Abiodun achieves this with unusual flair. The Ogun governor commits to his task as the Number 1 citizen of his domain armed with genius and an ebullient desire to serve.
He pursues the collective good knowing that the most tragic thing in the world is for a man of genius to suffer a lack of honour. Abiodun, however, is both a man of genius and a man of honour. His renown sprouts where dishonour declines, and his legend flowers on the stem of his innate gifts. Aside from his administrative depth, he understands, for instance, how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.
Thus his determination to make no fugitive of the citizenry in Ogun State. Little wonder his discipline and devotion attract a flurry of laurels and commendation. The Ogun State governor projects a perfect illustration of the maxim that practice sows the seeds of mastery, from which the effectual leader reaps the fruits of excellence.
And that is why he is a worthy recipient of The Sun’s 2023 Governor of the Year award.
