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Ever since the attentive world rose to its feet to applaud Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s virtuoso performance in six years after in office, the dogs of war seem to have been let loose and they are baying for his innocent blood. Amosun, his beautiful wife and members of his cabinet, have become the punching bag of miscreants on social media whose mercantile instincts mark out as cannon fodder in the hands of aggrieved and out-of-favour politicians. Every day, they concoct lies and tasteless falsehoods to nibble away at his soaring popularity among the long-suffering people of Ogun State, who are beginning to finally see that indeed, Ogun can be better.
From all indications, the mission of the people who are sponsoring the endless calumny campaign against Amosun, his wife and members of his cabinet on social media is quite simple-to distract him from actualizing his dream of a new and better Ogun State and whittle down his rising profile as a promising leader of Egba. They figured that with his squeaky clean technocratic background and soar-away performance in over three years in office, he would dwarf so many wanna-be leaders if no muck was cast on him sooner than later. But what in concrete terms has Amosun done to earn their fear?
Close observers of Amosun’s over six year’s administration can attest to the fact that for the first time in a long while, Ogun State is witnessing a structured approach to governance. Amosun’s philosophy of governance is an inclusive and open one which attracts everybody. Bringing his years in the commanding heights of the private sector to bear on governance, Amosun had outlined his vision and mission in the Government House from the outset. Right from the election campaign days, years back I may say, Amosun had told Ogun indigenes that his vision was for the State to become the 1st Choice Investment Destination and a hub for industrialization and commercial activities while his mission was to create a socially stable, business friendly environment that will attract both indigenes and foreigners to seek wealth creating opportunities in the State. So, he knew where he was going and how to get there. Again, it may not be certain but it would seem that Amosun is probably the first governor of Ogun State to articulate a vision and mission statement that would guide him in office. At the moment, Amosun has done a good job of keeping his eyes on the prize. And that is why they are talking…..
Again, in full appreciation of the security nightmare that had bedeviled Ogun State through the years, Amosun had divined that his leadership goals had no chance in hell if he failed to tackle the security challenges in the State. So, he went after the kidnappers, armed robbers, public/street harlots, social miscreants and secret cultists who had made Ogun State inhabitable with a figurative sharp knife. And what exactly did he do? Quite simple – he spent the Security Votes on providing security for the State; something that some past leaders either kept for themselves or shared with their godfathers. And that is why they are talking…..
As a corollary to the success recorded in fighting criminals in the State, Amosun’s vision and mission Statements are being realized in less than six years of his administration. Ogun State has become the new investment destination in West Africa. And once more, what exactly did he do? Again, quite simple – he set up an investment guru at the vibrant agency/ministry known as Ministry of Commerce and Industry and appointed some of Nigeria’s most brilliant investors to run it. The ministry quickly knocked down the bureaucratic bottlenecks that discourage investors from moving into new territories and opened the state up for a candid assessment, it worked like magic. From inception, Ogun State never had it so good in such a short time, about 140 companies had been established in the state since his coming into office in 2011. And that is why they are talking….
Again, leaning heavily on his technocratic background, Governor Amosun realized that for him to have enough money to find what he calls the enablers that support the five cardinal programmes of his administrative strategy, he could not continue to depend on the hand-downs from the federal government; that something had to be done in the area of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). So, from an inherited IGR of N700m, he multiplied Ogun Internally Generated Revenue in some months, bringing it to the threshold of N5bn. And what, in fact did he do? Ogun State is home to some of Africa’s largest markets with numerous investments that generate instant revenue.
It hosts quite a sizable chunk of Nigeria’s manufacturing firms. Amosun simply opened bids for the investors and handed them over to competent hands, re-organized the various markets and opened an enlightenment campaign on the importance of tax compliance. He liased with neighbouring state, Lagos, to realise that people working in Lagos and reside in Ogun State should remit their tax into the state coffers, to which the residents of the areas and the government agreed. Then, the people began to see the use of the taxes they pay in keeping Abeokuta, Sango Ota, Ijoko, Agbado/Akute, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Oja-Odan, Imeko Afon and Agbara clean and in the sudden return of sanity to every nook and cranny of the state and they responded in kind. And that is why they are talking…..
Again, before Amosun’s coming, Ogun State had been polarized by the utter lack of cohesion at the centre to bring positive change to the state. The state needed a “bridge-builder” with deft social skills; someone who would climb down the moral high-horse to share a meal and a laugh with anybody. They found that in Amosun’s natural gregariousness. Before long, all the hitherto disparate forces from the maverick billionaire/politician Buruji Kashamu to Mike Adenuga and even opposition figures like Gboyega Nasir Isiaka as well as former President Olusegun Obasanjo among others have all found one reason or another to believe in Amosun’s approach to governance. And that is why they are talking…..
The final reason why they won’t stop talking of Governor Amosun is because they had told people that Abeokuta and other towns in the state were beyond redemption; that Abeokuta indigenes were anti-progress and had always stood in the way of plans to turn the town into a befitting capital of Nigeria’s most distinctive state.
But now that four to five flyovers, including overhead bridges are springing up at the same time and changing the landscape of Nigeria’s most rustic state capital, they have come out talking, kicking and punching. With the security votes that they could not spend to secure Ogun State, they have armed a band of youths that they could not employ and turned them loose on the social media.
These men have made it a habit to incite the people against Amosun’s six years administration with brazen lies and photo-shopped images. Their solitary mission is to derail Amosun from the path of progress by keeping him busy fighting real and imagined enemies. And just in case you still don’t get it, their vision is to ensure that Ogun State remains at the rungs of underdevelopment; perpetually aspirating for greatness and never attaining it.
