By Comrade Olufemi Lawson
I have read with considerable attention the article titled “Why Should The South Defend A Governor Who Is Wasting Its Slot?” by Wándé T. Àjàyí, one of the House of Assembly Candidates of the Allied Peoples Movement APM, in the forthcoming general election.
No doubt, every citizen has the right to criticise a government, and constructive criticism remains an essential ingredient of democracy. However, when criticism is built on selective presentation of facts, unfair comparisons, geographical sentiment and an attempt to reduce the performance of a sitting Governor to the narrow prism of his senatorial district, it becomes necessary to put the records straight.
The article may be well written, but its central thesis is fundamentally flawed.
Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa is not wasting the Ondo South slot. He is governing Ondo State.
That distinction is important.
The Governor did not become Governor of Ondo South Senatorial District. He became Governor of the entire Ondo State. His constitutional responsibility is therefore to govern all 18 Local Government Areas fairly and equitably, rather than concentrate state resources in the geographical area from which he hails.
Indeed, one of the greatest misconceptions in the article is the assumption that because Governor Aiyedatiwa comes from Ondo South, every major project undertaken by his administration must necessarily be located in the South before his administration can be described as successful.
That is not governance, that is sectionalism.
And Governor Aiyedatiwa should be commended, rather than condemned, for refusing to reduce governance to sectional entitlement.
The argument that the Southern Senatorial District must receive disproportionate development because it is “its turn” fundamentally misunderstands the principle of equitable governance.
Yes, political power may rotate among senatorial districts. But public resources cannot and should not be distributed according to a rigid formula of “this is our turn.”
The people of Akoko, Owo, Ose, Akure, Ondo, Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo, Idanre, Ifedore and other parts of the State are not second-class citizens because the incumbent Governor comes from the South.
The Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s administration has therefore deliberately pursued a statewide development strategy under the OUR EASE Agenda, with emphasis on infrastructure, economic development, education, healthcare, agriculture, security, human capital development and investment. That is responsible leadership.
The fact that a road is constructed in Akure does not make it less important because the Governor is from the South. The fact that an educational institution receives attention in Akoko does not constitute an abandonment of the South. The fact that infrastructure is developed in Owo does not mean Ilaje or Okitipupa has been forgotten. Ondo State is one, and Governor Aiyedatiwa understands this.
Perhaps the most remarkable weakness in the article is its attempt to create the impression that Ondo South has received nothing substantial from the Aiyedatiwa administration.
The documented record says otherwise.
In the Southern Senatorial District alone, the administration has undertaken and supported a substantial portfolio of road and infrastructure projects.Among them are:
The 27-kilometre Okitipupa–Igbokoda dual carriageway, a strategic road intended to transform connectivity in the coastal axis.
The 28-kilometre Ajagba–Iju Osun–Akotogbo Road.
The 22-kilometre Omotosho–Igbotako–Iju Odo Road.
The 8.5-kilometre dual carriageway from College Road through Okoga Junction to Irewole Roundabout in Ilaje.
The commissioning of the 6-kilometre NDDC Road in Igbokoda.
The completion of approximately 14 kilometres of roads across Okitipupa, Irele and Igbotako.
Several completed internal roads in Igbokoda, Okitipupa and Irele, including Igbokoda Hospital Road, FCMB Road, Omotehinse Road, Onaopemipo Road, Ali Balogun Road, Ade-Adeyemi Road, Oke-Raye Road, Ola-Oluwa Road, Ewi Road, Luwa Road, Mobayode Road and others.
Is this what an administration “wasting” the Southern slot looks like?
The answer is obvious.
And these are not merely promises on paper. Some have been completed and commissioned, while others are ongoing.
The Governor’s administration has also continued to pursue the economic potential of the Southern Senatorial District through investment promotion, coastal development, industrialisation, tourism and maritime infrastructure.
The article talks about the enormous industrial potential of the South and asks what the administration is doing about it.
The answer is: a lot.
Governor Aiyedatiwa’s administration has made the development of the Olokola Free Trade Zone a strategic priority.
As recently as July 2026, the Governor continued discussions with the Dangote Group on accelerating the development of Olokola as a multi-sector industrial hub capable of attracting massive investment and creating direct and indirect employment.
The administration has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding relating to a proposed $4 billion petrochemical and fertiliser plant in the Southern Senatorial District, while another MOU concerns the development of a Deep Sea Port in Ondo State.
The Governor has further intensified efforts to attract investors to the Araromi coastline and develop the state’s coastal tourism potential, including plans for a state-owned beach resort and partnerships with private investors.
Therefore, when the article asks for an “industrial revolution,” it should also acknowledge that industrialisation does not happen by executive pronouncement.
It requires land, infrastructure, investors, regulatory approvals, financing, partnerships and sustained engagement.
Governor Aiyedatiwa is laying those foundations.
Wande Ajayi’s sarcastic reference to a two-kilometre concrete walkway in the Governor’s hometown is another example of selective criticism.
No responsible government should be judged by one walkway.
Nor should the value of a government be determined by whether a particular project is physically located in the Governor’s hometown.
If the walkway is useful to the people, it is a legitimate public project.
But more importantly, it is intellectually dishonest to isolate one relatively modest project and use it to define an administration whose infrastructure portfolio includes major roads, dual carriageways, urban development projects, flood-control interventions, institutional projects and statewide road rehabilitation.
The relevant question should be:
What is the totality of the administration’s interventions?
That is where the article falls short.
Governor Aiyedatiwa’s record cannot be reduced to road construction. His administration has pursued a broad developmental agenda.
The administration has continued to place education and human capital development at the centre of its agenda.
The Governor has supported academic excellence through awards and incentives. Recently, 66 outstanding students and other award recipients received financial recognition, while seven recipients of the prestigious NYSC National Award were offered automatic employment into the Ondo State Public Service.
The administration has also continued to support young people, teachers, students and educational institutions.This is development.
A society is not transformed only by concrete and asphalt. Sometimes, the most important infrastructure is the human being.
Ondo State’s enormous agricultural potential has not been ignored.
The Aiyedatiwa administration has commenced comprehensive registration of farmers, strengthening the basis for targeted agricultural interventions and support.
The Governor has also continued engagement with private-sector agricultural investors, recognising the importance of agriculture not merely as subsistence activity but as a major economic driver.
Wande Ajayi’s article speaks about young people desperate for opportunities.
Yet no investment or industrial revolution can thrive without security.
Governor Aiyedatiwa has strengthened the Amotekun security architecture, with 500 new operatives inducted in 2026.
The administration has also announced plans connected with the recruitment of 1,000 youths into the State Forest Guard programme.
Security is therefore being treated as an economic-development issue, not merely a policing matter.
Perhaps the most significant difference between serious governance and political rhetoric is that serious governance creates the environment in which private capital can create sustainable employment.
Governor Aiyedatiwa has aggressively pursued this.
At the Ondo State Investment Summit in February, the administration presented Ondo as an investment destination and entered into agreements aimed at attracting large-scale industrial investments, including the proposed $4 billion petrochemical/fertiliser project and Deep Sea Port initiative.
That is the foundation for the industrial revolution demanded by the article.
Wande compared Governor Aiyedatiwa with Governors Gboyega Adefarati, Olusegun Agagu, Olusegun Mimiko and Rotimmi Akeredolu and uses projects accumulated during their respective administrations to question what Aiyedatiwa has achieved.
But how long did those administrations have to govern?
Some of the administrations mentioned had four, seven or eight years to conceive, fund, construct, complete and commission major projects.
Governor Aiyedatiwa has been in office for less than two years in the period under discussion.
It is therefore intellectually unsustainable to compare the cumulative legacy of administrations that spent several terms in office with the record of an administration that has not enjoyed the same amount of time.
A fair assessment must compare performance per period in office, not simply place the accumulated legacies of several administrations on one side and demand that a relatively young administration produce an equivalent catalogue overnight.
Imagine judging a football match after 20 minutes and declaring the team that has not yet scored a goal a failure, while comparing it with a team that has played the entire 90 minutes.
That is not analysis, it is predetermined judgment.
There is another dangerous assumption in the article that I must challenge.
Ondo South should not be made to feel that it must “defend its Governor” merely because he is from the district.
But neither should the people of Ondo South be told that the Governor has failed simply because every major project has not been concentrated there.
The Governor’s responsibility is to all Ondo people.
The better question is not:
“How many projects has the Governor brought to his hometown?”
The better questions are:
How many lives are being improved?
How much infrastructure is being delivered?
How much investment is being attracted?
How much employment is being created?
How secure are our communities?
How strong are our schools and healthcare institutions?
How connected are our communities?
How sustainable is the State’s economic future?
Those are the questions by which Governor Aiyedatiwa should be judged.
The Governor’s approach is explicitly statewide.
His administration has approved and pursued township road interventions across the 18 Local Government Areas, reflecting the principle that infrastructure should reach communities across the State rather than be concentrated in one geographical zone.
That is consistent with the philosophy of OUR EASE.
Governor Aiyedatiwa administration’s responsibility is to build a State where the child in Ilaje has opportunity, the farmer in Ose has access to markets, the trader in Okitipupa can move goods, the student in Akoko can access quality education, the resident of Akure can enjoy modern infrastructure and the investor can find a conducive business environment.
That is the essence of statewide governance.
The article appears to measure legacy largely by visible mega-projects. But governance is much broader.
Paying attention to education is governance. Strengthening security is governance. Creating an investment-friendly environment is governance.
Supporting agriculture is governance.
Opening rural and urban roads is governance.
Attracting industrial investors is governance.
Improving public institutions is governance.
Creating employment opportunities is governance.
Maintaining fiscal discipline is governance.
Planning for the future is governance.
A government does not need to build a monument in every senatorial district before its performance becomes legitimate.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa should therefore resist the temptation to be dragged into a needless contest over who is shouting the loudest.
His mandate is larger than the noise.
He remained focused on the promises contained in the OUR EASE Agenda.
The people of Ondo State did not elect him to spend every day responding to political commentators.
They elected him to govern.
They elected him to build.
They elected him to create opportunities.
They elected him to attract investments.
They elected him to improve infrastructure.
They elected him to protect lives and property.
They elected him to strengthen education and healthcare.
They elected him to develop agriculture and industry.
And they elected him to ensure that no part of Ondo State is left behind.
There is nothing wrong with demanding more from Governor Aiyedatiwa.
In fact, every responsible citizen should demand more. Ondo South deserves more. Ondo Central deserves more. Ondo North deserves more. Every community deserves more.
But demanding more is different from falsely suggesting that nothing is happening.
We should not allow political disappointment, sectional expectation or personal preference to erase documented achievements.
If Wande Ajayi believes the Governor should do more in Ondo South, let him identify specific projects that should be prioritised.
If he believes the Olokola FTZ should move faster, let us debate how.
If he believes the coastal economy needs greater investment, let us discuss the policy mechanisms.
If he believes more jobs should be created, let us discuss the industrial and skills-development programmes necessary to achieve that.
That would be constructive criticism.
But to suggest that the Governor has “wasted” the Southern slot because the administration has not reproduced the accumulated legacies of governors who served substantially longer periods is simply unfair.
What Ondo South should demand is not a sectional Governor.
It should demand a competent Governor whose statewide development agenda also delivers substantially for the South.
And that is precisely the model Governor Aiyedatiwa is pursuing.
The Southern Senatorial District has roads under construction, it has completed roads.
It has major proposed industrial investments.
It has the Olokola FTZ agenda.
It has coastal tourism development.
It has deep-sea-port discussions.
It has agricultural opportunities.
It has urban infrastructure.
It has ongoing connectivity projects.
And, most importantly, it has a Governor who has repeatedly demonstrated that he understands the economic potential of the region.
The question is therefore not whether the South has benefited.
It has.
The question is whether it has benefited enough.
And the honest answer is that there is still much more to be done.
But that is precisely why Governor Aiyedatiwa deserves the opportunity to continue implementing his agenda rather than being prematurely declared a failure.
The title “Why Should The South Defend A Governor Who Is Wasting Its Slot?” assumes the conclusion before presenting the evidence.
I reject that conclusion.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is not wasting Ondo South’s opportunity.
He is using the opportunity to build a stronger Ondo State.
He is not Governor of Ilaje.
He is not Governor of Okitipupa.
He is not Governor of Akure.
He is not Governor of Owo.
He is not Governor of Akoko.
He is Governor of Ondo State.
And that means every senatorial district is his constituency.
The Southern Senatorial District should rightly demand more development. But it should also recognise the projects already delivered and ongoing in the region.
The Governor’s record should be judged on facts, not sarcasm.
It should be judged against the time available to him, not against the accumulated records of administrations that spent four, seven or eight years in office.
It should be judged by the totality of his interventions, not one walkway.
And it should be judged by whether his administration is laying sustainable foundations for the future of Ondo State.
The evidence increasingly says yes.
Governor Aiyedatiwa has less than two years to the end of his current tenure. The responsible thing now is not to distract him with unnecessary sectional battles, but to demand that he finish strong, accelerate ongoing projects, attract more investment, create more jobs and deliver the full promise of the OUR EASE Agenda.
The people of Ondo State deserve nothing less.
And if the author truly wants an industrialised, prosperous and developed Ondo South, then the conversation should not be about whether the South should “defend its son.”
The conversation should be about how government, private investors, traditional institutions, communities, political leaders and citizens can collectively unlock the enormous economic potential of the region.
And ultimately, the scorecard, not political rhetoric, should determine the verdict.
Comrade Olufemi Lawson
Senior Special Assistant to the Executive Governor of Ondo State