Nigeria: Gbenga Daniel's Accomplished Contract With Ogun

opinion

When Justus Olugbenga Daniel, popularly called OGD (Otunba Gbenga Daniel) took the driver's seat as the third democratically elected Governor of Ogun State, he armed himself with a blueprint titled "My Contract with the people of Ogun State." With this, he got cracking on the dualisation of the Abeokuta-Kobape-Siun-Sagamu highway, turning it into a 37.5 -kilometre express road. That was once upon a time, but the positive effect is everlasting on the people of Orile Imo along Abeokuta to Sagamu road in Ogun State; hitherto a somewhat somnolent settlement. The few houses in that village were typically rural, built of mud (mostly dilapidated) with thatched roofs. Apart from the inhabitant farmers and petty traders, indigenes of this community rarely passed the night when they visited, as there was no electricity too. The story changed in the year 2003.

A mechanical engineer, Olugbenga Daniel saw from the feasibility studies, that the mud houses along this road had to be dismantled to give way for innovation. The usual practice in government was to mark out such houses, demolish, get the job on course and pay some compensation to the affected landlords who have original documents to prove ownership. The then governor decided to jettison the old system, and instead showed his design to his Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Kehinde Osikoya, who doubled as Chief Executive Officer of Ogun Road Management Agency (OGROMA), a new agency made up engineers and other technical experts in the public service of Ogun State.

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