Still basking in the euphoria of his triumph at the poll, the Governor-elect of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun has relayed how he shook off the anguish that beclouded his recent past in the wake of his first son’s death to become Ogun helmsman, crushing a plethora of oppositions on his way.
Abiodun, who lost his son, DJ Olu — Davido’s ally — to the cold hands of death in 2017 said he withdrew himself from public circle for about six months following the tragic loss.
Giving a testimony during a service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in London, the governor-elect said asides winning the election, the victory was a great comeback for him.
“In 2017, I had an unfortunate incident. I lost my first son, and life could not have dealt me a worst blow. I withdrew into my shell. For over six months I could not function. I could not go to work, I didn’t see people; I became a complete recluse.”
While crediting his emergence to an act of God, Abiodun noted that his close relationship of over two decades with the outgoing Ogun Governor, Ibikunle Amosun became his greatest liability during the mouthwatering contest with his candidate, Abiodun Akinlade, claiming the Governor stood like a rock of Gibraltar to stop him.
In his words: “Succinctly put, it was the most turbulent, most bumpy, most challenging, most difficult tale of a political heroism in which the incumbent did everything humanly possible to stop me. This is considering the fact that this incumbent has been a friend of mine for over 25 years.
“I thought that God will not forgive me if I didn’t come forward to share a bit of my testimony and my ‘only God’ moment. I stand here as a testimony of the awesomeness of the Almighty God, and the fact that God is greater than man. God will be God and man will continue to be man, because if it were for men, I will not be the Governor-elect of Ogun state. I have been in the private sector, but I have always had a passion for politics. In 1997, I made my first show in politics; I ran for the senate. I became a senator-elect, and I was the youngest ever elected senator in Nigeria. I was so young that there was a controversy that I was probably too young to be sworn-in because the age limit then was forty and I was not quite forty. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Head of state then died and that republic came to an end. I tried again in 2015; I was persuaded to run for the senate, and I didn’t quite win. Well, I won, I was rigged out, and I went to court. I won at the tribunal and my opponent went and appealed and it was overturned.
“I was so unhappy. I thought to myself, ‘this is surely it, I am done with politics; I must just face my business and leave all these politicians alone. They are not trustworthy, they are not reliable, and it is just a waste of money and resources,” he said.
After the disappointment, Abiodun, who recently unveiled members of his Economic Transition Committee and Work Groups stated that if not for God’s intervention he had considered taking a bow out of politics, until he was being prodded to rethink his decision.
“Then, in 2018, someone came to me and said will I consider going back into politics. Of course, I said never. Then, it was that I should go to the senate, and I said I was not interested. I have done this twice, so I’m not interested; God definitely does not want me to be a senator. At some point in time, someone asked me: ‘would you consider being a governor?’ I said that I will consider, but I will first go to God and see what God has to say about it. To cut the long story short, I became convinced that God indeed wanted me to be Governor of Ogun state.
“I could not explain it. I sat down with the incumbent Governor and had a chat with him. Of course, he said ‘No, never; I will offer you senate.’ I said, ‘I don’t want senate’. Eventually, our Pastor Prof, the Vice President intervened. He now said: ‘May be, you should consider this senate.’ I said ‘okay. I will do it,’ only to find out that the incumbent governor that had indeed offered me this senate didn’t mean it. He actually was just leading me on. When that became clear, I went back to Pastor Prof and said, Pastor Prof, God is telling me something. I am going to be the governor of Ogun State.”
