Even forever comes to an end. In the next few weeks, Governor Ibikunle Amosun would be a former governor, adjusting to life without the exaggerated obsequiousness and panoplies of power. Hence when Prince Dapo Abiodun won the election, he knew he had been thrust into the vortex of history. More importantly, he understood that finally, the ides of fate had called on him to ride and tame the excesses and subtle machinations of time.
Interestingly, however, those who came up with the axiom that success has many fathers while failure is an orphan would be glad at its physical manifestation in the life of Prince Dapo Abiodun, the governor-elect of Ogun State. Among Nigeria’s political elite now, Abiodun is the son in whom they are well pleased.
From President Muhammadu Buhari to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and former governors of Ogun and Osun States, Aremo Segun Osoba and Chief Bisi Akande respectively, to the chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, they were all on hand last Thursday, March 28th, as he came to present his Certificate of Return to the president.
Earlier, the billionaire businessman cum politician and his deputy, Mrs Noimot Oyedele-Salako, had received their certificates at the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, office in Abeokuta, Ogun State. It was a smiling President Buhari that received the governor-elect at the presidential villa. The president held the certificate tenderly as he shook hands with Abiodun, advising him not to forget his promises to the people of Ogun State. He was later joined by the Vice President and the APC chairman and Osoba who accompanied him on the trip from Ogun State.
As early as 9am that day, the INEC office in Abeokuta had been taken over by party faithful, friends, associates and members of different support groups for the Dapo Abiodun governorship bid as they waited for him to pick his CoR. The event was originally slated for 11am and it started almost as scheduled. When Abiodun arrived with his entourage, the waiting crowd erupted into cheers as they swarmed round his car. It took him several minutes to make his way into the compound of the electoral commission as the cheering crowd surged.
In his remarks, the governor-elect said his election was a victory for Ogun people as it was the result of their collective efforts. “Today represents a further confirmation and validation of the collective resolve of Ogun people as expressed on March 9th, 2019. I am a privileged beneficiary of that resolve. I, therefore, commit myself to an all-inclusive, equitable and fair-minded approach to governance as pledged by me during the campaigns and in my acceptance speech of 11th March 2019,” he said. The debonair billionaire said further that the time to start working together is now and that there is more to gain as a people in collective efforts than otherwise.
