At 70, Justus Olugbenga Daniel, this is your life, by Gabriel Akinadewo

*I made an impact as Ogun governor because I adopted Awolowo’s model

*Without people like us, Dapo Abiodun would not have been governor

*Tinubu has the courage to tackle Nigeria’s challenges

*At a septuagenarian, I have become an elderstatesman

*I laid a good foundation for Ogun

*How Ogun West can produce governor

In his 30s, he rose to the pinnacle of his career as an engineer. At 47, he was elected governor of Ogun State, becoming the first Chief Executive of the Gateway State to be reelected. Today, he is a Senator representing Ogun East District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He is Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy.
In Nigeria’s business and political sectors, Otunba Justus Olugbenga Daniel, the son of a Bishop, popularly known as OGD, is an experienced giant. An engineer, politician, nationalist and philanthopist, today, he is 70.

The Founder of Kresta Laurel Limited (KLL), an electro-mechanical engineering company that specialises in elevators, overhead travelling cranes and hoists, is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE), a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (FNAEng) and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (FIoD).

In 2004, as governor, he conceptualised and initiated the Gateway International Cargo Airport project in line with his vision to expand the economic base of the state by leveraging on its unique advantages and strategic geographical location. The project has now been completed by Governor Dapo Abiodun and was inaugurated last Saturday by President Bola Tinubu.

Among other chieftaincy titles, he is the Otunba Obalofin of Ijebuland, Fesojoye of Ile-Ife, Arole of Remoland, Olu-Nla of Egbaland, Oga-Nla of Yewaland and Okosisi of Obinugwu, Imo State.

He is also the Asiwaju of Remo Christians, succeeding the late Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

He reflects on his experience in private and public offices.

Otunba Daniel was a successful businessman and engineer before joining politics, using the Gateway Front Foundation (GFF) as a platform.
GFF empowered thousands of people across all the three senatorial districts of Ogun State. He was a member of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and he always attended the last-Thursday-of-the-month meeting of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, in the country home of the late Senator Abraham Adesanya in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State.

Chief Olusegun Osoba was the governor of the state then.
What Daniel did in private sector, he wanted to reenact same politically by contesting for the office of the governor. But, there was a challenge. Osoba had become the consensus candidate of Afenifere elders. So, there was no vacancy for Daniel in AD.
The only option: join another party.
He eventually joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and people of Ogun State elected him in 2003. He was also reelected in 2007.
Daniel, who spoke with reporters at his Asoludero Residence, Sagamu, ahead of his 70th birthday, said: “After being successful in my lucrative businesses, I turned attention to politics to serve, add value and make impact.
“We didn’t see commensurate development in Ogun, although many people making waves in Lagos were from Ogun. Ogun was a sleeping giant before our coming. Decades after, the situation has changed. The state has witnessed a turnaround. I laid a good foundation. There was no government before us that faced the challenges squarely. Across the sectors, we were in a hurry to develop.
“I was able to make an impact because I adopted the Awolowo model. Awo was an enigma; clear, specific, deliberate in action, meticulous, strategic in his intervention in education, agriculture, social services and infrastructural development. He was ahead of his time. Ideologically, I am quite in tune with ‘Awo’s ‘Life more abundant,”.
When he was governor, Daniel came under attack over some of his policies. But looking back, he said he has no regrets for his actions in office. “I came with progressive ideas into a setting that was conservative”, he added.
He also reflected on his tenure, post-governorship challenges, defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), relationship with Governor Dapo Abiodun, zoning hurdle in the Gateway State, and why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu deserves re-election in 2027.
To foster equity, fairness and justice, some political parties and rational leaders are embracing the reality of zoning or rotation of elective positions at national, state and local government levels.
The constitution of some parties also provide for zoning to prevent systematic domination, marginalisation and exclusion. If zoning is not embraced as an element of political convention, certain electoral regions, districts, zones and constituencies may not be able to produce president, governors, federal and state lawmakers, chairmen and councillors because they are populated by ethnic minorities, or alliances between or among other zones may leave them in the cold.
That was the reality in 2011 when outgoing Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel pleaded with stakeholders to support the push for zoning to Ogun West Senatorial District so that the zone can produce his successor.
“Fair is fair,” recalled Daniel, who lamented that up till now, the district is yet to produce a civilian governor since the creation of the state in 1976.
Daniel also attributed why the slot eluded the Egbado/Yewa Division.
“I turned around the fortune of Ogun West. No deputy governor had come from there during the administrations of Onabanjo, Osoba, even Amosun. I picked my deputy from there.
“In 2011, I picked my successor from Ogun West but the district lacks unity. It is not homogeneous. Egba used to agree. In the East District, when it is critical, they come together, whether it is Ijebu or Remo. That doesn’t happen in the West.
“In Ogun West, Aworis believe they are closer to Egba than Yewa. We have the Anagos, the Eguns in Ipokia. Ogun West aspirants are also pointing attention to the fact that they have ancestral roots in the East and Central”.
Urging Ogun West leaders to close ranks, he also advised them to link up and seek support, cooperation and understanding of other zones.
Hale and hearty, the septugenarian reflected on his life and career as an engineer, foray into politics, tenure as governor, his defection from the PDP to the ruling APC, and relationship with Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Also, to mark his birthday, his public service experiences are captured in his books: ‘Daniel in the Lion’s Den,’ ‘Otunba Gbenga Daniel In The Eyes of Time,’ ‘My March Through The Courts,’ and ‘Gbenga Daniel: Path to Justice’, launched in Abuja a few days ago.

Daniel also spoke on critical national issues, including state police, Electoral Act review, consensus and direct primary, and why Nigerians should re-elect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
As governor, Daniel said since his policies and programmes were equitable and fair, he largely succeeded in managing the centrifugal forces in the state, adding that his administration also promoted healthy competition and even development.

In 2011, he supported Gboyega Isiaka, from Ogun West, to succeed him but former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a retired General, backed another soldier, the late General Olurin, also from the West.
Eventually, both candidates lost to Ibikunle Amosun, of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), from Ogun Central, who succeeded Daniel.
After serving as Director-General of Atiku Campaign Organisation, he also tried to become the National Chairman of PDP but, some party elders worked against him because they believed, because of his closeness to Tinubu, he would hand over the party to ‘Jagaban’.
He later left the PDP for APC.
Defending his action, he said: “I did not jump from the PDP. I have already been part of the progressives. I was part of Afenifere/AD. I saw the need to develop Ogun, but AD/Afenifere was not in a position to offer me the opportunity to serve. The road was closed. We remained in Afenifere as members of PDP. Remember Chief Bola Ige wrote the constitutions and manifestos of all the parties then.
“I vied for PDP national chairmanship position. They said if I become the chairman, I will hand over the party to Jagaban. I had to step down without a fight. When I was in the PDP, Obasanjo would always referred to me as Asiwaju’s friend.
“In Ogun, PDP gave the governorship ticket to Ladi Adebutu; court gave it to Kashamu. Asiwaju asked me to support Dapo (Abiodun) for governor. After that, our people came to me to join APC. I knew Asiwaju wanted to run for the office of the president”.
After leaving power in 2011, Ogun politics has also been characterised by face-offs between him and his successors, Amosun and Abiodun.

He said his advice that “we should be responsible and respond to the expectations of our people” were sometimes ignored. The rifts have often degenerated to litigations.
Exuding confidence, the former governor said: “I have gone to court over 30 times against governments and I have not lost”.
Yet, his assessment of Amosun was fair and devoid of hostility. “Ibikunle is ajagungbade. He fought and won the crown,” he said, adding: “Before my swearing in for the second term, he started his campaigns to succeed me”.
Daniel said he supported Amosun’s successor, Abiodun, saying that “without people like us, Dapo would not have been governor.”
He refrained from criticising the governor further, merely stressing that “a number of people in position of authority gets carried away.”
In his view, mature people should appreciate the fact that there are other things beyond ego.
Daniel lamented that Ogun lost the siting of the Dangote Refinery to Lagos. But, he gave kudos to Abiodun for completing the airport project in Iperu-Remo which he (Daniel) conceptualised and started.
It is an open secret that crisis is brewing between Daniel and the governor over the Ogun East senatorial ticket. While the former governor is interested in retaining the seat in 2027, Abiodun is also eyeing the slot.
An experienced politician, Daniel parried the question, apparently deferring his response till the appropriate time.
At 70, Daniel described himself as an elderstateman, whose commentary on national issues derive from his rich experience about the polity.
He hailed President Tinubu for his stand on state police. “Ideologically, this is where I stand”, he said.

Daniel added that state policing system implied decentralisation, adding that the move would enable the police to effectively tackle insecurity through better intelligence gathering as a result of their full knowledge of their areas of operation.
He also threw his weight behind the consensus and direct primary for choosing candidates for elections.
“It is not new. Indirect is prone to corruption. A delegate is a bastion of corruption. Only few minorities elect candidates. If people agree, consensus is good”, he stressed.

Danied applauded the National Assembly for passing the Electoral Act Bill.
He disagreed with the insinuation that the law is solely to the advantage of the ruling party.
“It cannot be an agenda for any political party,” he said.

Lending his voice to the real time election result transmission debate, he urged critics to embrace the reality of network failure that may not be easily overcomed.
“In Makomi and Odo-Omi in Ijebu Waterside, there is no road. I have been there. You go through water. There is no network there,” he added.

Daniel urged Nigerians to vote for President Tinubu for a second term.
“A highly intelligent person, Tinubu knows the country well. In terms of the present economic circumstances, there is nobody who could have done it better, or who would have tackled the challenges with courage”, he said.
The senator said the president aligned with economic experts who believed that fuel subsidy should be removed, noting that “only Tinubu has the courage to implement it.

“Those profiting from subsidy in the past are fighting. The masses who are affected are also complaining. That is why government is finding ways to ameliorate the challenges.

“States and local governments now receive more money from the Federation Account. Therefore, there should be no weak distribution of wealth”, Daniel said.
He noted the impact of diversification, pointing out that solid minerals is bringing money to the country.

“There is steady recovery and improvement. The indices are becoming right,” Daniel added.