In a few months time, political parties in Osun State will be holding their primaries to pick candidates for next year’s governorship election. Many aspirants are already flaunting their credentials for the job. One of them, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, is seeking the APC ticket, reports Ibrahim Adam.
After over four decades playing in the insurance industry, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi is veering into politics. He is motivated by his concerns for where Osun State is today compared to where it should be. The state, he says, should be at rhe apex of states in Nigeria. “What Osun has is more than oil. We have solid minerals in abundance all over the state. Is it marble? Gold? Diamond?. They are all over the place in different parts of Osun”, he says.
Ogunbiyi knows what he is talking about. He is not a rookie in administration, as well as in managing outfits, men and materials. He has been running an enterprise that he solely founded in 1995. This was after working with an organisation like NICON Insurance after leaving the university. He read agricultural economics, but became an insurance expert. He assures all Osunlites that “their state, our state is secured and insured with me”.
“If I can run my own company for over 30 years now; and still counting, after managing other outfits such as Finance and Insurance Expert Limited, the precursor of IGI Insurance, I can and will govern Osun successfully”, the aspirant who is seeking the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to run in the August 2026 election says. The primary, according to the election timetable, is scheduled for between November and December, this year. “What we need is a governor that will put on his thinking cap. A man with the capacity and competence, experience and foresight on where a state like Osun which is endowed with natural resources should be. I have all these qualities and more and I am not boasting. I am the man for the job”, Ogunbiyi said.
Asked what is wrong with Osun that it has not grown beyond being a “civil service state” as some people describe it, he says the challenge is that of leadership. “We have not had the kind of enterprising leader that will lead from the front. It is not about rhetoric, but about putting your hands on the plough without looking back. What this means is design-thinking and projecting into the future. Design-thinking is a set of tools that enable smart states to solve problems creatively. It is the human-centred side of creative problem-solving that skilfully and fully engages value-adding commitment of leaders, teams and the individual civil and public servant.
“Since the approach is human-centred, it involves a lot of empathising. The leader (that is governor) must figure out the concept, what the state’s needs are, and then, articulate the programmes to meet those needs. These design-thinking steps are therefore applicable everywhere and very flexible. Its implementation is easy. The process includes the ability to empathise, define, provide solutions, create prototypes, and then test the prototypes… The administrative and business models in this shifting and challenging world environment should be big and bold experimentation. We will not be afraid to take such bold steps for us to have the Osun of our dreams”.
Ogunbiyi said he has President Bola Tinubu to draw from for the latter’s bold and courageous steps taking so far in the leadership of the country. “It takes a bold leader to remove petrol subsidy and stand by it, as well as float the exchange rate, making foreign exchange accessible for individuals and businesses. I will emulate the President in taking bold and courageous steps. I will do whatever is required to take Osun to greater heights. Though some decisions may be painful as we are witnessing at the national level, but at the end of the day, it will be for the collective good of our people. Osun must be a forward looking and enterprising state. We should no longer be counted among the least developed states”, Ogunbiyi said.
“We have many urbanised towns, unlike many other states where only the capitals and one or two other places are urbanised. It is not so with Osun. Many of our towns are urbanised. We will create a conducive environment for the people of those towns to stay, grow their trades and businesses or whatever they do, so as to tackle the migration to the capital. These towns can serve the dual purpose of industrial and residential use. It is just a matter of planning the towns well. All of us do not have to be in Osogbo, the state capital, before we can thrive and live well. I assure the people that wherever they are will be developed. There will be good schools, hospitals, roads, power, industry, potable water. This is my dream for Osun State”, he added.
Ogunbiyi says he would provide responsible leadership for others to take a cue from him. “I am responsible for them and they are responsible for the assignments given to them. They will be recognised not only for their skills but also for their attitudes. They will be fully and positively engaged in every area and in everything we do. I believe in leading people creatively and I will fully adopt the see-feel-change dynamic of generating ideas to galvanise development so that the people will feel and benefit from what the government is doing. We will be people-focused. We will never forget that we were voted into power. Our people will be our strength. I will be accountable to them. I want to be able to walk among them after my tenure of office with my head high.”
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“I can only do this if I meet their expectations. I promise not to fail them. I am not seeking to be governor for the fun of it. I want to be governor to touch lives; to grow our people and our state. To make Osun the destination of choice for investors because we have what they want under our soil. We have no business with poverty in our state. We have a state with a lot of potential. In the last two years, we have received over N400 billion from the federation account. With this kind of money, our people should be feeling the impact of government. We cannot be getting such an allocation and not be an enterprising state. The state of Living Spring will live and attain glorious heights under me. All I need is the opportunity to serve my state so that I can bring a difference to governance”, Ogunbiyi added.
