Daniel, Amosun & Abiodun: The three Friends Controlling The Destiny Of Ogun State Since 2003

By Charles Segun Adegbite 

In the local parlance these three uncommon friends: Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and Prince Dapo Abiodun, are called, "Awon Aro Meta Ti Nmi Ipinle Ogun", which literally means the three musketeers moving and shaking Ogun State at will. 

The trio have been holding sway and governing the gateway state in turn since 2003. And their first benefactor, nicknamed Ebora Owu (meaning the Avatar of Owu Kingdom) is the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

While Daniel a successful engineer, ruled the state between 2003 and 2011, Amosun, an accomplished accountant, succeeded him in 2011 and governed the state till 2019. 

The youngest of them, Abiodun, an oil magnate and business mogul, who was the first to venture into politics in late 1990s, succeeded Amosun in 2019. Till date Prince Abiodun is the governor of the state, and it is expected that he will also govern the state till 2027.

Before their adventure into politics, they were all Lagos based technocrats, who were wealthy and highly connected. Of course, they had made success of their chosen careers before venturing into politics. 

At the time these three friends began preparations for their great political exploits in 2001, Daniel was in his mid-40s, while the others were in their early 40s. And nobody could imagine then that the trio would all become governors and even grip the leadership of the state for twenty years or more. 

The then governor, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, a member of the Alliance for Democracy(AD), couldn't even imagine it that these young men, who were then members of the Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP) would chase him out of the Government House in 2003, via election. 

Like the notorious Tsunami, they stormed Ogun State in 2002 with their political campaigns, toured all the local government areas in the state to canvass for votes as seen in one of the pictures displayed here.  

At that time Osoba and late Pa Abraham Adesanya were perhaps still holding on to the old political order of Afenifere/Awolowo Era, of thinking "it is wherever we ask our people to go, they will go, and whoever will ask them to vote for would be the one they will elect".

Alas! By the time the 2003 elections were over these three musketeers have succeeded in sending Osoba and the AD out of power. Of course,  this was with the support of their political godfather then, Chief Obasanjo, who was the incumbent Nigeria president;  He(Obasanjo) too was seeking a second term election, 

They brought in the PDP, with Daniel as the governor, while Amosun became a senator for the Ogun Central Senatorial District.

Since that 2003 they have made it impossible for none member of their inner caucus to occupy the Government House, as they govern the state one after the other.

Till date, the two former governors are still having their influences in the current dispensation. Amosun, now a serving senator, is believed to be making relentless efforts to establish himself as a godfather in the state, by entrenching himself at the federal level. 

He is believed to be using his closeness to President Muhammadu Buhari to get many of the federal appointments zoned to the state for his loyalists/followers.

Political observers said this was the kind of political influence cum god-fatherism he couldn't tolerate from Chief Osoba when the former governor was leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) in the state, during Amosun's first term. 

This, according to them, was the reason he fought the old man(Osoba) to a standstill until the man and his political son, (Amosun's deputy then), Prince Segun Adesegun had to leave the party for Amosun.

It is no longer news that the ministerial and ambassadorial appointments for the state were grabbed by Amosun's factional members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who formed the Allied Peoples Movement(APM) before the the 2019 general elections.

While the power struggles between Daniel and Amosun lingered between 2005 and 2011, political observers were saying with a friend like Daniel, Amosun needed no enemy again. 

When Amosun was also in power and began to campaign for another party against his own APC to prevent Abiodun from succeeding him, political observers also said again that with a friend like Amosun, Abiodun needed no enemy in life.

People were amazed however, after the elections were over, and the trio were seen at a social function embracing themselves, exchanging pleasantries as if nothing ever went wrong between them. 

While some people were saying the whole greetings were a mere political gimmick to deceive the public that they have large hearts, others pointed out that in politics there is no permanent friend and no permanent enemy, but permanent interest.

As a philosopher put it, "From time to time history repeats itself. But human beings forget to learn from other people's mistakes"

Whether Amosun, as a senator representing Ogun Central senatorial district and member of the ruling APC will cooperate with and support Abiodun for a second term or not, is another interesting political game that will form the Season 2 for Ogun State people and Nigerians generally to watch from next year.

Not only would this tell the world what manner of friends they are, it will also create the history many of today's youth and future generations would learn from.