Welcoming one to the fifth floor office of Kresta Laurel Complex in the heart of Maryland in Ikeja, Lagos State is a portrait of 20th Century greatest physicist, Albert Einstein with the inscription: ‘Let me know God’s mindthe rest are details’. This statement has deep interpretations in the psyche of Einstein disciples and men of big dreams.
An accomplished engineer, Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD), two-term Governor of Ogun State sits atop Kresta Laurel Limited, a total engineering company with distinctive competence and knowledge in the field of vertical and horizontal transportation systems, material handling and power generating sets. Powered by efficient management team comprising persons with direct experience in their various fields, it has overtime thrived on a terrain that was formerly an exclusive preserve of foreigners.
From a wholesome Christian background as a son of a clergyman who was widely known to have a genuine and divine call, his charisma and camaraderie is difficult to ignore. Otunba Daniel radiates courage and strength. Obsessively painstaking in the articulation of his thoughts, his lectures and speeches, whether written or spontaneous are rich and intellectually inclined.
On the tripod of vision, service and integrity, he plunged into the murky waters of politics at the turn of the new millennium when others of his extraction would prefer to satisfy their epicurean desires. A man of extra-ordinary courage and uncommon confidence, he was ready to play the script of the biblical Daniel by his new vocation of choice politics. To some, this was sure one suicidal mission. Restive, adventurous and fizzy, Otunba Gbenga Daniel cannot wait to explore the external world the world of politics that affords him the opportunity to feel the eco-sphere of the masses; the downtrodden. At the back of his mind was that strong believe that Ogun State can work. He clearly understood that Ogun State is rich with natural and human resources that can make it one of the super power states in Nigeria. To him, “the time has come for men with confidence, knowledge, experience and a strong resolve to stand up and say ‘I’m prepared to lead, give directions and be responsible for my actions’ ”.
In The Land of My Dreams a book he wrote in 2000, he raised a number of issues provoking deep reflection and collective appraisal concluding that “with the enormous resources of the State and the legendary resourcefulness of its people, they (the people) deserve more than they have got so far in terms of betterment of their lives. This made him present his manifesto; ‘A Contract with Ogun People’ in 2003 after a rigorous ward-to-ward campaign.
OGD’s ward-to-ward and whistle stop campaigns of 2001-2003 remain legendary in Ogun politics. The Ogun populace was charmed with his endless cheerfulness and energy. He is always dressed for the day well before his aides and apparently unable to wait for another exhausting day. Hardly can any of his aides match up with his hard work and resilience. From Ayetoro, Abekoko to Ayede-Ayila. From Oja Odan, Ogere, Ogbere, Olodo to Oniro. From Imeko through Imala to Ijebu Igbo and Ibiade, on land and over the waters, he met politicians, civil and public servants, retirees, artisans, professionals, students, traders, farmers, elites, traditional rulers, community leaders, unionists, the young and old, males and females, indigenes and residents alike, drawing crowds from every village and settlement he passed through. As he criss-crossed the land, taking voters’ pulse in thousands, OGD brought a personal magnetism into Ogun politics unequalled since the days of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Nothing seems to daunt him going by the humour he radiates even in the scariest of situations and the built-in strength of a survivalist. I got one of my poignant insights into OGD’s sure-fire confidence when, in 2003, an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja cleared incumbent Governor Olusegun Osoba to run for the third time. Jittery and depressed as his aides were, he cheered up: “Bring on Osoba!” he boasted. “I am happy he is now within my firing range. It is the incumbent I want to beat in the election not a green horn!” He went ahead to sack the veteran journalist in the 2003 governorship election. He didn’t think he was going to win, he knew he would win.
On assumption of office, many agencies which would have been money spinners were met in comatose. According to him, “Ogun State was one that was largely a backwater – a sleepy state where even indigenes were reluctant to live in and from which many investors shied away. Believing in the fact that the business unusual approach to governance can turn the fortunes of the State around within a very short period, these Agencies and parastatals were resuscitated and not only became self-sustaining but profit-making. Aside this, the new Administration tremendously impacted on the lives of the ordinary citizens underscoring a part of his inaugural speech; we must assist our people build their assets by developing all relevant infrastructure that will enhance the optimal utilization of what nature has endowed us with and also invest in human capital development”.
From education to health, sports, economy, agriculture, urban renewal and rural development, power, infrastructure, human development, housing, industrialisation, tourism and employment generation, OGD’s imprints were phenomenal. As at the last count about 70 companies berthed in Ogun State from 2003 to 2011 with over 250,000 jobs provided through various employment generation schemes of the State government. In his eight years, the OGD Administration did more roads than all Administrations before it and most of these were done through direct labour with the Ministry of Works and the Ogun State Road Management Agency OGROMA. By utilising this method, costs were significantly saved while the confidence of indigenous engineers was reinstated in the people. The Olumo Rock resort was refurbished meeting international tourism standard, the MKO International Stadium Abeokuta was renovated and three other stadiums in other geo-political zones of the state were constructed to FIFA specifications. The NYSC orientation camp in Sagamu is reputed to be the best in the country while the Tai Solarin College of Education was upgraded to University status making it the first in Nigeria and second in Africa. It was recently adjudged the best University of Education In Africa in 2011. The construction of a modern secretariat for civil servants in the State at a cost which beat the imagination of Late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua who commissioned it remains a landmark. The construction of the six-lane Lalubu Road the commercial nerve centre of Abeokuta without a single demolition of existing building was to become a standard in road constructions in Ogun State today. For OGD, the governorship was a 24-hour job. The last project he commissioned, the OPIC PLAZA remains, till date, the tallest structure in Ogun State. Perhaps it is not immodest to say that the incredible performance of Otunba Gbenga Daniel is now a benchmark to measure the performance of future leaders of the State. In the words of the Nobel Laureate himself, Professor Wole Soyinka, “The various projects embarked upon by Governor Daniel are laudable and practical”.
According to Daniel, “Never in our history have so many opportunities to expand our frontiers of development been so within close reach and beckoning to us. The socio economic and physical developmental opportunities that the OKNLG, Kajola-Ifo free Trade Zones and the Agro-Cargo airport present are enormous. The seriousness and unity of purpose with which we pursue these opportunity will determine where our State will be in the nearest future. The prospects of our State being great are very real”. Unfortunately, the OKNLG project a multi-billion dollar project which could have earned the State hard currencies and provided more than 100,000 job opportunities for the teeming youths in the unemployment market and other laudable projects mentioned were scuttled partly by the infamous Resolution 167 passed by the Rt. Hon. Tunji Egbetokun-led House of Assembly sometime in 2010. The rest is now history.
Till this moment Otunba Gbenga Daniel still relishes the Ogun State he ruled. “It is gratifying that in May 2003, Ogun State was just another State in Nigeria, but today, we are leaving behind an Ogun State that has some a potent force to be reckoned with in purposeful governance and monumental socio-economic infrastructure, thereby becoming the prized possession that is worth fighting over”.
Delighted by Otunba Daniel’s commitment to the provision of basic infrastructure for the resuscitation of the moribund agricultural sector, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2003, as a sitting President then commented: “Of all what I have seen on agricultural development in Ogun State, Governor Daniel is a thoroughbred; a true son of our forebears”. On another occasion, Obasanjo was to say; “I believe, in him, we have a governor who has what it takes to lead the State. Im proud to be a Nigerian born in Ogun State”. Former Vice President Abubakar Atiku in his words said Daniel has “demonstrated outstanding resourcefulness, foresight, and dogged determination in his efforts to turn Ogun State around despite enormous odds. He has shown what is possible in a society when leaders are focussed and do not look for excuses for doing nothing”. In her own comment on Daniel, the matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty remarked: “I am proud to be associated with you because you are a man of your words. Whenever you promise to execute anything, it’s as sure as being done already. And it was vintage Senator Femi Okurounmu who drew his own perception of Daniel nearer that of the legendary Awolowo when he submitted thus: “Fired by the same zeal that has propelled Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and by the same ideals and principles, he (OGD) has been giving the people of Ogun State a peep into the glorious past.
The Oonirisa himself, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Okunade Sijuwade regale in the fact that he was among the first to spot the hidden potentials in Otunba Daniel when he said: “Do not be surprised. What we saw in Ife many years ago when I conferred the chieftaincy title of Fesojoye of Ife on Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Ogun State people are just seeing it. What we saw then, God also saw it. He will serve Nigeria at three different levels. This is just the first level.
However, the intra-party crisis that engulfed the Ogun PDP in the wake of 2011 general elections coupled with the unresolved imbroglio in the Ogun State House of Assembly polarised members of the then ruling party resulting in the defection of staunch members of the OGD political family to the newly formed Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN). With about three months to elections, the PPN embarked on rigorous campaign and won three seats in the State’s House of Assembly and one Federal House of Representatives’ seat.
As the intra-party crisis in the PDP lingered on, OGD decided to join forces with the budding Labour Party after series of advances by the party leadership which believed in his ability to overrun the ruling party in the State in the coming elections.
Here is the story of a man who achieved greatness, fame and wealth by dint of strenuous hard work, and not through sheer providence. One of his closest aides once said: You will be amazed by the OGD’s Administration graduates when you run into them- the loyalty showed to the man through thick and thin is amazing. Perhaps it is only apt to close this piece with the simple but loaded commendation from no other a person than one of the most decorated Nigerian jurists of all times, Prince Bola Ajibola, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who in his own simplistic description once remarked on Daniel: ‘What an excellent Governor you are’.
Daniel was born on the 6th April, 1956. He attended the Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta from 1969 to 1973, followed by studies at the Polytechnic, Ibadan and the School of Engineering of the University of Lagos. His decision to study engineering was influenced by the brilliant engineer and teacher Professor Ayodele Awojobi. Daniel spent much time with Awojobi and was a winner on his television quiz show Mastermind. While he was an undergraduate, he was the youngest member of Committe of Friends of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo which later metamorphosed into the Unity Party of Nigeria. (UPN)
A distinguished Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineersn he had a stint with Metal Construction (WA) Limited. He later obtained a job with H. F. Schroeder (W.A.) Limited, Lagos, rising to Deputy Managing Director the first African to attain that position in the companys history. In 1990 he founded Kresta Laurel, an engineering firm specializing in elevators, overhead travelling cranes and hoists.
He has also won several distinguished awards including the Zik Leadership Award (2006), MKO Abiola Leadership Prize (2004), African. Leadership Prize for the Best Performed Governor (2003-2004) , Man of the Year by the American Biographical Institute (2004). For a man so much loved by his people, he has been bestowed with numerous chieftaincy titles among which are the Otunba Adeoti of Omu. Otunba Fesojoye of the Source (Ile-Ife) , Otunba Obalofin of Ijebuland, the Arole of Remoland, the Olunla of Egbland and the Oganla of Yewaland.
The marriage to his ever-supportive and priceless jewel, Yeye Olufunka Daniel is blessed with promising children.
Giwa is the Media Officer to the former Govenor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.