By Kunle Somorin
For over two decades, Ogun West has danced around the edge of political power like an eager suitor who can’t quite seal the deal. The region’s aspirations for the governorship have been passionate, loud, and oftentimes poignant—but never fulfilled. The time has now come for Ogun West to stop making declarations and start making decisions. Fortunately, destiny seems to have delivered a ready solution in Senator Solomon Adeola—Yayi.
Yayi’s emergence on the Ogun West political stage was met with predictable skepticism. A Lagos political titan returning to his ancestral roots? Surely there had to be more to the plot. Yet, unlike others who have leveraged their origins only when politically convenient, Yayi returned with substance in tow—projects, institutions, influence, and unmistakable seriousness. His style is quiet, deliberate, but telling. Not one to hug headlines, he prefers to let solar-powered classrooms and ICT hubs speak on his behalf.
He did not saunter in claiming to be the region’s messiah. He simply started doing the work. That, in itself, is revolutionary.
And while his critics chant the “Lagos export” anthem with gusto, they often gloss over a critical point: leadership is not geography-bound—it is vision-born. Yayi did not buy credibility in Ogun West. He earned it. Slowly, consistently, and without fanfare.
Let’s be clear—Ogun West has no shortage of brilliant minds. But brilliance alone does not win elections. Nor does it build hospitals or pass budgets. What the region needs now is not another emotional pitch, but a strategic anchor. Someone who understands policy as well as popularity. Someone whose influence stretches beyond the gates of Oke-Mosan. Someone, dare we say it, who knows how to win.
Senator Adeola is that someone.
His chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee is not just a feather in his cap—it’s a lever in Ogun West’s hands. With the national purse within reach, a Yayi governorship could unleash development on a scale the district has never witnessed. Roads won’t just be graded—they’ll be funded. Youth empowerment won’t just trend—it’ll be institutionalised. This is not romantic speculation—it’s political realism.
Of course, unity is still non-negotiable. Ogun West cannot continue to audition multiple candidates in every cycle and then wonder why none gets the lead role. It must, at some point, decide that consensus is not surrender—it’s strategy. Adeola may not be every stakeholder’s first choice, but he may well be the region’s best chance.
Because governance is not a poetry contest. It is grit, influence, and results.
So perhaps the question Ogun West should be asking is not “Is Yayi ours enough?” but “Are we serious enough to win?”
Power does not wait for divided districts. And history rarely pauses for indecision.
If Ogun West wants the governorship, it’s time to stop flirting with the idea—and marry it.
Somorin writes from Ago Isaga Compound, Ota, Ogun State
