“Darkness does not exist. Darkness is merely the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness.”
– Albert Einstein


Experience has shown us that new leaders have to live in a world they inherit. And it’s a world, in which, for good, fair or bad, what good leaders do in their early days have a disproportionate impact on all that follows. In fact, there is hardly any clearer way to judge the road ahead when the feet are not well planted in the early parts of the one they have just begun to tread.

When Rt. Hon. (Prince) Olakunle Taiwo Oluomo was sworn in as the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly and indeed Dr (Prince) Dapo Abiodun MFR as the governor of Ogun State on May 29, 2019, the attention of the country was shifted to the gateway state with thirst. That was to see how the rebuilding process of the state would begin. And that was not surprising because of the theater of the absurd that presented itself on the stage of the state prior to this new political dispensation, in which, the erstwhile governor was the protagonist.

Though the immediate past deputy speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Oluomo had more limited power to orchestrate pro-people policies then compared to now, his healthy ambition and relative success were an insurance of faith held by his fellow honorable members in him to lead the 9th assembly to the promised land. And right from the first few days of presiding over the plenaries, he expressed his aim to go beyond the autochthonous legislation of the typical Nigerian lawmakers with no direct grass root input to some of the laws and, as such, he wants to reverse the elitist gaze so as to reveal an important part of humanity that elitist lawmakers either deliberately elide or are just incapable of accommodating beyond election periods. That has since then attracted interest from the people of Ogun State to him, most especially, the people at the lowest wealth quintiles of the society. What a time to be alive for the people of the market square, garages, farms, and even schools and offices!

What we have been served so far by Oluomo is a legislative module that integrates accountability, transparency, synergy with other arms of government and social systemic inclusion.

Rt. Hon. Oluomo in action: Passing Security Trust Fund bill into law

Knowing fully well that security is the heart of a state and true development will be stunted if it is jeopardized, Oluomo had passed the security trust fund bill into law. That was following the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Special Duties.

The security trust fund law is an aid instrument designed to direct funds to security projects through public-private partnership. When in operation, the law will help strengthen security operations by boosting the existing security trust fund to promote efficiency in security management. The strengthening of the security apparatuses will be through the provision of funds for human and financial resources to curb crime and ensure peace.

Since the law allows private-sector inclusion in providing funds for the security of the state, it is a welcome development in tandem with the vast majority of deliberative democratic theory which implicitly or explicitly assumes the need for widespread citizen participation. It requires that all citizens possess the opportunity to participate and also that they use this opportunity. And it is a way the elite outside government can contribute in boosting the security management of the state. The ripple effect of a viable security system is vibrant commerce, development and sustainable wellbeing of the people.

However, one might say that this law was the reformative handiwork of an instrument of a safety-at-all-cost governing approach or an initiative to simply excuse the government in providing total fund for securing lives and properties. While the latter is dismissible, the former cannot be.

In ensuring the success of this law too, governor Dapo Abiodun had swiftly inaugurated a committee to oversee the transparent implementation of the law. Still thin, the action offers an exciting glimpse of life Ogun State citizens can hope for. Peace of mind.

The passage of the bill brings to mind something gargantuan yet not across-the-board. With the raging insecurity that currently bedevils the large part of the country and the sometimes insufficiency of public fund in combating it, other governors and Speakers of state houses of assembly are expected to follow in the steps of Abiodun and Oluomo to act as catalysts to this hydra of growth called insecurity.

Rt. Hon. Oluomo in action: Passing the Ogun State Road Maintenance Agency (Amendment) bill into law

In the last eight years, the erstwhile governor of Ogun State was very busy on construction and reconstruction of road projects in the state. However, the inordinate movements of heavy machines for construction also affected other roads creating potholes and cracks here and there. The Ogun State Road Maintenance Agency (OGROMA) bill passed into law by the Ogun State House of Assembly, under the leadership of Olakunle Oluomo, will enable the road maintenance agency to begin to look into the deplorable condition of township and rural roads within Ogun State from time to time.

Not only government is a continuum, even the construction and reconstruction of awarded road and bridge projects to contractors. And the unfinished roads and bridges in the state are continued by the foreign contractors overseeing the projects. But the law passed by Oluomo will ensure that rehabilitation of deplorable roads are entrusted in the hands of state agency.

Road maintenance involves two different processes which the agency are entrusted with following the passage of the bill: corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance. Corrective maintenance involves remedying defects such as potholes that occur in the carriageway from time to time. And preventive maintenance involves providing treatments such as crack sealing which will slow the rate of deterioration. In those two ways, the roads across the state should be in better shape due to timely maintenance.

I cannot say the foreign contractors can be saddled with the sole responsibility of maintenance. While their expertise may be superior to that of state-owned contractors, and, again, be in need for the original constructions, the expertise of local and state professionals in maintaining the roads and bridges cannot be found wanting. Hence, the need to utilize their potentials; and at no detriment to the state.

In fact, the economic implication of the success of OGROMA in keeping Ogun State’s roads and bridges in a state of good repair is contributing to a robust economy.

Rt. Hon. Oluomo in action: Revalidation of MAPOLY Law

The bill sent by Governor Abiodun to the Ogun State House of Assembly under the Leadership of Rt. Hon. Oluomo for the amendment of the MAUSTECH law to return all the properties of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) earlier ceded to the Moshood Abiola University of Technology (MAUSTECH) was passed in early August. That’s among the strides the Speaker aims to achieve in legislation towards educational issues in the state. While the rest are pending and/or yet to be discussed, the revalidation of the MAPOLY law is the cert of a spawn-forthcoming.

History has shown us that as the world moves, some things get smashed on the path of time; things like ideas, policies, laws, people and the worlds of people. This certainly suggests much more than the ambition and gusto of the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly to reverse something that had been done.

In retrospect, the erstwhile governor of Ogun State had upgraded Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) to Moshood Abiola University of Technology (MAUSTECH) and relocated the polytechnic to Ipokia in Ogun West. But the two institutions could not take off before the exit of the former governor from office. This was as a result of a number of crises spurred by lecturers of the polytechnic, the students and the alumni of the institution understandably so.

Deliberations from different stakeholders have also started about where the proposed MAUSTECH can be located. All of these are to ensure the university achieves optimum service delivery as well as add positive change to the face of Ogun State’s educational landscape.

It takes a lovable leader of a state house of assembly to achieve these successes with subtlety and synergic might with fellow honorable members. From the bills and constant assurances of social inclusion, translation of some laws to Yoruba; to passing the law that posthumously honored Chief Dayo Dedeke who composed the Ogun State anthem, in Oluomo’s first 100 days in office, the Ogun State 9th assembly is more absorbing. So we cannot alienate our presences from it. And it is high time the people of Ogun State supported the leader of the assembly more than ever before. This is also to see to good light the latest Bills passed into law on the eve of marking the one hundred days of the state’s 9th assembly: the Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of Ogun State Law, 2019; Ogun State Legislative Fund Management Law 2019; the Magistrates’ Court (Amendment) Law 2019; and the Customary Court (Amendment) Law 2019.

Also, recently passed were two resolutions. One was for the approval for Ogun state to participate in the Anchor Borrowers Program which would allow unemployed youth gain access to a loan, a portion of land to outgrow an agricultural produce of choice, receive stipend before harvest and start to pay back the loan in installments during the sale of produce at harvest. The other was for the adoption of representation in Ogun State political office appointment; 35% women, 10% youths and consideration for people with special needs.

Deliberately or not, through his actions, Oluomo has magnified the voice of the late Chief Dayo Dedeke in the Ogun state anthem: “Ise ya, ise ya, omo Ogun, ise ya...” His first 100 days is just a pointer that Ogun State is in the best of hands. And one of the hands is that of the number three citizen of the state.