Since the production of Ogun State on the 3rd of February, 1976, from the defunct Western State, by the Military junta led by the late Murtala Mohammed, power circulation and sharing amongst the 3 socio-cultural components in the state have actually been imbalanced against the people of the West, making up majorly the Yewa, Awori, Egun and other clusters.

The chronicle of political epochs in the Gateway State, particularly democratic administrations shows power-sharing math continuously domiciled in between the East and the Central and constantly putting the West at bay in the status of 2nd fiddle.

While genuine issues and efforts of critical political stakeholders in the state and beyond have actually resulted in various relocations towards changing the narrative on the premises of fairness and equity, numerous elements within the zone and from outside has actually prevented it from concerning fulfillment.

Regardless of the quality and quantity of human resources from Ogun West and the tactical place of the zone, lack of clearness of function and cohesion among the people have actually been identified by critical stakeholders as militating factors against a selection of efforts to stabilize the political equation in the state to the benefit of the West.

There are signs that leading political gamers, traditional rulers and believed leaders in the State, specifically from the other 2 Senatorial Districts are being disrupted by the seeming political inequality and injustice against Ogun West.

The Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona, in the count down to the first dispensation of the 4th republic in 1999 vociferously canvassed for an agreement candidate from Ogun West as governorship prospect, to stabilize the political formula in the State, after Chief Olabisi Onabanjo from the East in the 2nd republic and Aremo Olusegun Osoba from the Central in the aborted third republic.

No matter the degree of political compassion and solidarity Ogun West takes pleasure in from other zones and individuals with political impact across the state, there is still an urgent need for internal willpower amongst the people of the zone to have a typical front towards attaining their goal.

Considering that politics is everything about settlement through constant assessment and pragmatic engagement, what need to be the immediate and necessary next line of action for political gladiators in the Senatorial District now is to start genuine settlement and robust assessment within the zone for formidable agreement and further engagement throughout the state.

Strictly speaking, extensive analysis and empirical investigation of occasions have actually revealed a down pattern in the political fiasco in the zone, with the last gubernatorial election of 2019, which undoubtedly indicated hope of imminent achievement for Ogun West.

In 2011, 2 candidates from Ogun West, particularly: Gboyega Nasir Isiaka and General Olurin contested for the governorship seat in the state, in which Olurin came second, losing the election to Ibikunle Amosun with a margin of 188,000 votes.

Again in 2015, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka and Senator Odunsi, both from the West vied to end up being guv, eventually, Isiaka lost to Ibikunle Amosun with 100,000 votes.

The 2019 election, where Gboyega Isiaka contested again along with Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, also from Ogun West was a watershed in the political history of the zone, Akinlade, running on a reasonably new political celebration lost the election by a hair with a tiny margin of 19,000 votes to the incumbent guv, Dapo Abiodun.

The above sequential index of the election cycle in the state clearly shows a downward trend in the degree of loss against candidates from Ogun West, as an outcome of increased political engagement across the state and the strength of personalities involved. Regrettably, the vicious circle of electoral loss continued due to an absence of internal method of settlement and assessment to reach a formidable consensus.

Going forward, therefore, the current political reality in the state has actually demanded a conscious rethink and renewed method among political gladiators in Ogun West.

So, from all indications and in line with today political permutation in the state, all eyes and attention are in the instructions of the last man from the West, Hon. Adekunle Akilande, who sprang a surprise in the political space and delighted in the blessings of a leading political juggernaut in the state.

Remember that the former Governor of the State and the Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial District, Ibikunle Amosun, tossed his weight behind the candidacy of Hon. Adekunle Akilande, who eventually contested on the platform of Allied People Movement, APM, after alleging gross malpractices in the main election that produced the incumbent, Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Akinlade, remarkably, regardless of the newness of the celebration on which platform he contested lost to Abiodun with simply 19,000 votes.

He later left APM to rejoin the All Progressives Congress, APC, after the election alongside all his fans.

Surprisingly, the debate about the faction in the hold of the jugular of APC in the state is now at the front burner of political discourse in the Gateway State.

A list recently trending on various social media platforms, said to have actually been leaked from the National Headquarters of the APC, carries the name from Amosun’s camp, Chief Derin Adebiyi, as the acknowledged State Chairman of APC in the State, the claim Dapo Abiodun’s camp has actually since dismissed as false and fallacious.

While the recently established Reconciliation Committee of the celebration, headed by the former Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Adamu, remained in the state recently to ameliorate the tense situation, nothing has been seen up until now as an indication of real reconciliation and peace.

As the 2023 gubernatorial election draws near with 2 factions of APC locking horns in the State and one standing with the incumbent, Prince Dapo Abiodun from the East and another with Adekunle Akilande from the West, the prominent question running in the minds of many experts in the state is,” Would fairness and equity ever be considered in power-sharing in Ogun State.