By Olaniyi Ajibola
Economic activities anywhere in the world tremendously flourish in peaceful environments, where there is absence or minimal security breach and threat of any kind, and where the ambience remains evidently friendly to guarantee confidence of prospective investors and other players alike.
There is no doubt that the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, since his assumption of office has assiduously worked to change the volatile business environment he met in 2019 to business friendly environment of unprecedented proportion, making the state the best federating unit in ease of doing business among the 36 states of the federation.
This profound achievement by the current administration in Ogun state is a product of political will of the Governor, his creative ideology and courageous disposition towards speedy transformation of the state, bringing his corporate exposure and decent pedigree to bear in governance.
While the state enjoys comparative advantage of location, being the only neighbour to Lagos state, the commercial capital of Nigeria and gateway to many cities across Nigeria with international border to West Africa countries, the inherent challenge of insecurity comes with this advantage.
Governor Abiodun, having relentlessly built a leading industrial hub in West Africa sub-region in the last seven years was swift in confronting this menace with utmost alacrity through legislation and strategic mobilization of security agencies and local intelligence mechanisms to nip every security breach in the bud.
Against this backdrop , the Ogun State Executive Council recently approved four landmark bills designed to tackle violent crimes, ritual killings, cultism, extortion and the growing challenge of missing persons across the state as a way of sustaining the state’s status as one of the safest sub-nationals and investment destination of repute in Nigeria.
The proposed legislations—the Group Liability for Offences of Violence, Extortion and Secret Societies (GLOVES) Bill, the Victims’ Rights Bill, the Human Sacrifice Prevention and Prohibition Bill, and the Missing Persons Bill—will be transmitted to the Ogun State House of Assembly for consideration in the coming days.
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, SAN, said the bills represent a comprehensive legal response to crimes that are either prevalent or increasingly becoming a threat to public safety in the state.
Ogungbade explained that the GLOVES Bill is aimed at dismantling criminal organisations by making every member of an unlawful or proscribed group jointly liable for crimes committed by fellow members in furtherance of the group’s objectives, as the Victims’ Rights Bill will establish, for the first time in Ogun State, a structured legal framework for the protection and support of victims of crime throughout the criminal justice process among others .
Analysts and discerning residents of the state have applauded this move, describing it as a display of responsive and pragmatic leadership in the most proactive manner, with the aim of protecting lives and property in the state as well as stimulating the microeconomic layer of Ogun State.
In the same vein, the Governor has mobilised tactical security equipment to complement the operational efficiency of security agents in the state, as the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tunji Disu, deployed operational police aircraft to support ongoing operations across the 20 local governments of Ogun State.
The Governor had requested the deployment of the aircraft as part of efforts to further strengthen the state’s security architecture and sustain the fight against criminality and banditry, in which the IGP swiftly obliged.
Receiving the aircraft and its crew on behalf of the Ogun State Government, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, expressed the Governor’s appreciation to the Inspector General for his prompt response and unwavering commitment to the safety of lives and property in the state.
Talabi noted that the deployment of the aircraft would significantly enhance aerial surveillance, intelligence gathering, and rapid response capabilities of security agencies, thereby complementing ongoing efforts to rid Ogun State of criminal elements.
He described the development as another testament to the strong collaboration between the Ogun State Government and security agencies, adding that the partnership has continued to yield positive results in safeguarding residents and protecting critical infrastructure.
Indeed, these conscious security measures have started yielding immediate positive results in Ogun State, as a testament of purposeful leadership provided by Prince Dapo Abiodun and his team, in line with the unassailable contractual agreement he had with the people of the State before coming into the saddle
Of course, the successful rescue of the seven students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, in Remo North Local Government Area, who were abducted by suspected kidnappers earlier this week was a pointer to the fact that the Ogun State security architecture is greatly hostile to criminal elements and their collaborators anywhere in the State.
The breakthrough speaks volume of the effectiveness and efficiency of the renewed security arrangement in the State and the sophistication of intelligence gathering mechanism put in place to monitor every activity in all the nooks and crannies of the State.
Governor Dapo Abiodun, while addressing journalists at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, in the company of security chiefs and some of the rescued students, reaffirmed his administration’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that kidnappers and other criminal elements have no hiding place anywhere in Ogun State.
The Governor disclosed that the rescue was achieved through a coordinated security operation involving the Nigeria Police Force, the Armed Forces, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Ogun State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps), local vigilantes and hunters.
He said ,” I am pleased to inform the good people of Ogun State that in the early hours of today, Thursday, August 6, 2026, the combined security operation successfully rescued all seven victims alive.
“One of the victims sustained a gunshot injury during the incident and was immediately evacuated for medical attention. The student has since been stabilised.
“This operation is still ongoing, and I wish to assure the good people of Ogun State that our security agencies remain on the trail of every individual connected with this criminal enterprise”.
Obviously, one of the cardinal attributes of a good leader is vigilance, every good leader promptly and carefully recognises problem before it becomes an emergency. Indeed, Governor Dapo Abiodun has left no one in doubt that he was prepared for this job and possesses requisite capacity , sagacity and courage to be successful despite the enormity of his assignment.
The Prince of Iperu Remo is more than ready to even take it further beyond the Gateway State in the next few months, to take the business of law-making as statutory obligation at the red chamber of the National Assembly.
Ajibola is a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Strategic Communications
