Great deeds are like carnations. They flower in the exploits of a governor like Prince Dapo Abiodun, the very hardworking governor of Ogun State. He 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 Forbes awards as Best of Africa Governor in Industrial Revolution.
According to the ebullient governor, “It is such an honour and incredibly humbling to be amongst the winners of the prestigious @forbes Awards for the year 2022, where I was named Forbes Best of Africa Governor in Industrial Revolution.
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 Foreign Investment Network and Forbes 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.
