#OgunAt50: Golden Jubilee Celebrations Amid Mixed Emotions and Half-Century of Ogun West’s Exclusion from Governorship
BY ABU-SATAR HAMED
As Ogun State marks its Golden Jubilee – fifty years after its creation on Tuesday, February 3, 1976 – the mood across the Gateway State is one of celebration, nostalgia and pride. Roads are being commissioned, achievements are being reeled out, and the story of progress is being proudly told. Yet beneath the jubilation lies a quieter, heavier emotion – a deep sense of loss and exclusion felt by the people of Ogun West Senatorial District, who after five decades have never been allowed to produce a governor.
Born out of the old Western State, Ogun has steadily grown into one of Nigeria’s most strategic and influential states. Bordered by Lagos and serving as the commercial corridor linking the nation’s economic capital to the rest of the South-West, Ogun has lived up to its identity as the Gateway State – opening doors to enterprise, opportunity and development.
But while the state has moved forward economically and infrastructurally, its political journey has not been evenly shared.
For fifty years, Ogun West – comprising the Yewa, Awori, Ketu, Egun, Ohori etc., communities – has remained shut out of the highest political office in the state. From military to civilian administrations, from the Second Republic to the Fourth Republic, the seat of power has rotated strictly between Ogun Central and Ogun East.
Names and faces have changed, but the pattern has remained constant. Ogun West has watched from the sidelines.
For many in the district, this is no longer a matter of political misfortune; it is a historical injustice. “Fifty years is a lifetime,” an elder once remarked. “Long enough to heal wounds – and long enough to deepen them.”
The pain of Ogun West goes far beyond electoral statistics. It is emotional, generational and communal. There is a persistent sense of invisibility – a belief that votes are valued during elections, but voices fade when leadership is decided.
There is also the frustration of contribution without reward. From the fertile agricultural belt of Yewaland to the industrial productivity of Ota and Agbara, Ogun West contributes enormously to the state’s economy. Added to this are broken expectations.
Over the decades, promises of zoning, fairness and inclusion have repeatedly failed to materialise. Parents have told their children stories of hope deferred; elders speak of decades of patience that have yielded no reward.
Critics often argue that Ogun West’s predicament has been worsened by internal disunity, elite rivalry and missed political opportunities. While these factors cannot be ignored, many insist they do not justify permanent exclusion.
In a democratic system, equity should not depend on political perfection; it should be institutional, deliberate and just.
Can a state truly celebrate unity while an entire senatorial district remains perpetually excluded from leadership? The credibility of Ogun’s political structure may well depend on how sincerely this question is answered.
Across towns and villages in Yewa and Aworiland, the mood is strikingly consistent – pride in Ogun State, mixed with the pain of exclusion. Many insist they do not seek power out of entitlement, but out of fairness: a chance to contribute at the highest level to the state they have helped build.
It’s no longer news that, a remarkable political paradox has persisted in Ogun State, one of Nigeria’s South-Western economic powerhouses, but since the state’s creation in February 1976, Ogun West Senatorial District – still hoping to produced a governor, despite being an integral contributor to the state’s economy, culture and politics.
It would be recalled that through a mix of military and civilian administrations, several leaders have governed the state – but none from Ogun West. Early military governors such as Saidu Ayodele Balogun (1976-1978) and Harris Eghagha (1978-1979) were appointed by federal military regimes and are not regarded as representatives of today’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 consistent: East-Central-East-Central-East, while Ogun West has remained excluded throughout the state’s constitutional history.
Ogun West comprises five local government areas – Yewa South, Imeko-Afon, Yewa North, Ipokia and Ado-Odo/Ota. It is culturally diverse, home to the Yewa, Awori, Egun, Ketu, Ohori and other communities, forming a rich tapestry that contributes to the vibrancy of the state. Yet despite its vast landmass and strategic economic importance, its political visibility has lagged behind that of the more populous East and Central zones.
In Nigerian sub-national politics, zoning – an informal gentleman’s agreement for power-sharing – often dictated the rotation of major offices among geopolitical zones.
In Ogun State, an unwritten zoning arrangement has largely favoured Ogun East and Ogun Central, effectively 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 build for Ogun West in past elections, internal divisions weakened its chances. Aspirants from the zone often emerged on different platforms or entered compromised alliances, splitting votes and influence.
Increasingly, voices from Ogun West and civil society argue that the exclusion is not accidental but structural – embedded in political bargaining, demographic narratives and entrenched regional interests.
However, as campaigns toward the 2027 governorship gather momentum, the debate has been re-energised. Activists, professionals and community leaders are once again insisting that “Ogun West deserved its turn.”
Critics of the status quo point out that Ogun West consistently delivered loyal votes and massive electoral support, yet received limited political returns. They argue that the language of “competence” and “electability” is selectively deployed to justify the dominance of non-West candidates, while elites from more favoured zones leverage resources and networks that Ogun West aspirants often lack.
At a media chat held on Sunday, February 2, 2026, at the Yewa Frontier Hotel & Suites, Ilaro-Yewa, Ogun State, where Senator (Dr.) Opeyemi Bamidele, CON, Majority Leader of the 10th Senate, featured as Guest Speaker, noted that the Ogun West’s inability to produce a governor in the last 50 years was attributed to persistent internal political discord, largely fueled by the district’s diverse Yoruba sub-ethnic composition.
Speaking at the forum themed, “The Power of Internal Coherence in Securing External Support: Roadmap for Achieving Ogun West Gubernatorial Ambition in 2027,” and organised by the Ogun West Professionals for Yayi, Senator Bamidele explained that, unlike Ogun Central and Ogun East senatorial districts which have alternated in producing governors, Ogun West has been hampered by linguistic and dialectal differences among its elites, making sustained consensus difficult over the years.
According to him, Ogun West, which shares an international boundary with the Republic of Benin, is home to several Yoruba sub-ethnic groups, including the Yewa (formerly Egbado), Awori, Ketu, Anago and Ogu. He noted that, irrespective of size or influence, the district contends with deeper ethnic diversity and often conflicting political interests.
He further observed that this multiplicity of sub-ethnic identities, alongside language and dialect differences, has remained a major obstacle to elite cohesion and collective political bargaining in the district.
The Senate Majority Leader also traced Ogun West’s political disadvantage to the delineation of wards and local government areas at the creation of Ogun State 50 years ago, noting that this structural imbalance has continued to undermine the district’s quest to produce a governor.
He explained that available records show near-equal population ratios across the three senatorial districts.
The 2006 census, he said, puts Ogun East, with nine local governments and 104 wards, at 1,248,338 people, representing 33.2 per cent of the state’s population; Ogun Central, with six local governments and 75 wards, at 1,370,820 people, or 36.4 per cent; and Ogun West, with five local governments and just 59 wards, at 1,146,006 people, or 30 per cent.
According to him, the skewed delineation of wards and local governments – which determines the number of delegates during party primaries – places Ogun West at a disadvantage whenever the delegate system is adopted, thereby exerting undue pressure on aspirants from the district and weakening their chances at primary elections.
Earlier in his remarks, the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, described the quest for Ogun West to occupy the Oke-Mosan Government House in 2027 as a phased project that demands collective effort and sustained commitment.
He urged stakeholders to continue engaging widely, cautioning against alienating those who are yet to align with the project, and instead called for deliberate efforts to win them over.
Also speaking, former Senator representing Ogun East, Senator Lekan Mustapha, called on leaders of Ogun West to close ranks and work in unity towards securing the Ogun State governorship in 2027.
He lamented that Ogun West has remained the “weeping boy” of the state, describing the prolonged denial of the governorship to the district as most unfair.
The forum, however, underscored the urgent need for unity among political stakeholders in Ogun West, warning that internal divisions could undermine what it described as a historic opportunity for the district.
With the 2027 election on the horizon, proponents see a historic opportunity for Ogun West to claim its first governorship through unity, strategic alliances and broad voter mobilisation. Yet some analysts warn that without a cohesive internal strategy, history could repeat itself.
For many in Ogun West, the issue has moved beyond politics into the realm of identity and dignity. Exclusion from the state’s highest office feeds into a deeper narrative of marginalisation, echoing wider national conversations about representation and fairness in Nigeria’s federal system. It is not merely about who governs, but about who matters – whose voice, whose experience and whose aspirations are reflected in public policy.
The half-century exclusion of Ogun West from the governorship is not a matter of chance. It reflected decades of political bargaining, power consolidation and uneven representation. Yet the growing intensity of the demand for inclusion suggested that this 50-year anomaly may be approaching a turning point.
Whether justice will be achieved in 2027 remains the Renewed Hope of the Ogun Westerners, and they’re seriously working towards achieving it. What is clear, however, is that the call for inclusion in Ogun State’s political destiny has grown louder, more organised and harder to ignore – rooted in constitutional fairness, regional pride and the democratic ideals at the heart of Nigeria’s federal experiment.
Ogun State at 50 stands tall – a story of resilience, progress and promise. But history will judge this milestone not only by roads built and industries attracted, but by how justly power has been shared.
For Ogun Westerners, the Golden Jubilee is both a celebration and a reminder – of fifty long years of waiting. As the Gateway State steps into its next half-century, may it open the gate not only to development, but to justice, equity and true inclusion. Ire ooo!
*Abu-Satar Idowu Hamed is the Otun Baaroyin of Ilaro-Yewa, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, StarTrend Int’l Magazine and online platform, and National Coordinator, League of Yewa-Awori Media Practitioners (LOYAMP)
