As Ogun State marks its Golden Jubilee – fifty years after its creation on Tuesday, February 3, 1976 – the temper throughout the Gateway State is considered one of celebration, nostalgia and delight. Roads are being commissioned, achievements are being reeled out, and the story of progress is being proudly advised. Yet beneath the jubilation lies a quieter, heavier emotion – a deep sense of loss and exclusion felt by the folks of Ogun West Senatorial District, who after 5 many years have by no means been allowed to supply a governor.
Born out of the previous Western State, Ogun has steadily grown into considered one of Nigeria’s most strategic and influential states. Bordered by Lagos and serving because the industrial hall linking the nation’s {economic} capital to the remainder of the South-West, Ogun has lived as much as its id because the Gateway State – opening doorways to enterprise, alternative and improvement.
But whereas the state has moved ahead economically and infrastructurally, its political journey has not been evenly shared.
For fifty years, Ogun West – comprising the Yewa, Awori, Ketu, Egun, Ohori and many others., communities – has remained shut out of the very best political workplace within the state. From navy to civilian administrations, from the Second Republic to the Fourth Republic, the seat of energy has rotated strictly between Ogun Central and Ogun East.
Names and faces have modified, however the sample has remained fixed. Ogun West has watched from the sidelines.
For many within the district, that is now not a matter of political misfortune; it’s a historic injustice. “Fifty years is a lifetime,” an elder as soon as remarked. “Long enough to heal wounds – and long enough to deepen them.”
The ache of Ogun West goes far past electoral statistics. It is emotional, generational and communal. There is a persistent sense of invisibility – a perception that votes are valued throughout elections, however voices fade when management is set.
There can also be the frustration of contribution with out reward. From the fertile agricultural belt of Yewaland to the economic productiveness of Ota and Agbara, Ogun West contributes enormously to the state’s financial system. Added to this are damaged expectations.
Over the many years, guarantees of zoning, equity and inclusion have repeatedly did not materialise. Parents have advised their youngsters tales of hope deferred; elders communicate of many years of endurance which have yielded no reward.
Critics usually argue that Ogun West’s predicament has been worsened by inside disunity, elite rivalry and missed political alternatives. While these components can’t be ignored, many insist they don’t justify everlasting exclusion.
In a democratic system, fairness shouldn’t rely on political perfection; it must be institutional, deliberate and simply.
Can a state actually have a good time unity whereas a whole senatorial district stays perpetually excluded from management? The credibility of Ogun’s political construction might effectively rely on how sincerely this query is answered.
Across cities and villages in Yewa and Aworiland, the temper is strikingly constant – delight in Ogun State, blended with the ache of exclusion. Many insist they don’t search energy out of entitlement, however out of equity: an opportunity to contribute on the highest stage to the state they’ve helped construct.
It’s now not information that, a exceptional political paradox has persevered in Ogun State, considered one of Nigeria’s South-Western {economic} powerhouses, however because the state’s creation in February 1976, Ogun West Senatorial District – nonetheless hoping to produced a governor, regardless of being an integral contributor to the state’s financial system, tradition and politics.
It could be recalled that by means of a mixture of navy and civilian administrations, a number of leaders have ruled the state – however none from Ogun West. Early navy governors reminiscent of Saidu Ayodele Balogun (1976-1978) and Harris Eghagha (1978-1979) had been appointed by federal navy regimes and are usually not considered representatives of at the moment’s senatorial zones.
The first elected civilian governor, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, hailed from Ogun East (Ijebu) and served from 1979 to 1983. Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the governorship has continued to rotate between Ogun East and Ogun Central. The rhythm has been constant: East-Central-East-Central-East, whereas Ogun West has remained excluded all through the state’s constitutional historical past.
Ogun West contains 5 native authorities areas – Yewa South, Imeko-Afon, Yewa North, Ipokia and Ado-Odo/Ota. It is culturally numerous, house to the Yewa, Awori, Egun, Ketu, Ohori and different communities, forming a wealthy tapestry that contributes to the vibrancy of the state. Yet regardless of its huge landmass and strategic {economic} significance, its political visibility has lagged behind that of the extra populous East and Central zones.
In Nigerian sub-national politics, zoning – an off-the-cuff gentleman’s settlement for power-sharing – usually dictated the rotation of main workplaces amongst geopolitical zones.
In Ogun State, an unwritten zoning association has largely favoured Ogun East and Ogun Central, successfully sidelining Ogun West. Political analyses and commentaries have repeatedly described this as an elite consensus that has shut the West out of governorship contests.
Even when momentum appeared to construct for Ogun West in previous elections, inside divisions weakened its probabilities. Aspirants from the zone usually emerged on totally different platforms or entered compromised alliances, splitting votes and affect.
Increasingly, voices from Ogun West and civil society argue that the exclusion shouldn’t be unintended however structural – embedded in political bargaining, demographic narratives and entrenched regional pursuits.
However, as campaigns towards the 2027 governorship collect momentum, the talk has been re-energised. Activists, professionals and group leaders are as soon as once more insisting that “Ogun West deserved its turn.”
