Amosun’s impressive score card in Ogun

OGUN State was in 2013 awarded
the “the fastest-growing
economy and first choice for industrialists
and entrepreneurs among the 36
states in Nigeria by Business Day Newspapers.
According to the financial newspaper,
Ogun State, under the leadership
of Senator Ibikunle Amosun, won the
prestigious award “because it has the
highest number of businesses established
in its domain and the government
has made the environment more
attractive to investors.
Ogun also has the highest positive
number of Gross Domestic Product,GDP
in the last one year. The number of bank
branches has increased more than that
of other states in the last three years and
its financial inclusion, particularly the
embrace of cashless economy and use
of Automated Teller Machine by residents
had increased tremendously.”
If anyone thought that the breakthrough
was a fluke and was only a national
recognition, then wait for this. The
report of the World Bank, Doing Business
in Nigeria 2014, rates Ogun, out
of 35 states and FCT, as one of the 5
states “that made the biggest strides
towards the national frontier of good
practices.” The biennial report, releasedlast Monday, puts Ogun in the exclusive
club of the top reforming states in
Nigeria.
This, to many observers, is an extraordinary
performance by the current government
of Ogun State. The giant
strides made by the Ogun State Governor,
Senator Ibikunle Amosun in the last
three years are better appreciated when
compared to the situation of the state
before he mounted the saddle of leadership
in May, 2011.
The same World Bank, in 2008 and
2010 reports, ranked Ogun State as one
of the lowest overall performers among
the 36 states in Nigeria in terms of ease
of doing business. In other words, Ogun
State was by then not conducive to business.
If a student that had ‘Credit’ as a
grade in 2010 now has ‘Distinction’, we
say he or she has improved. But when a
student that secured ‘Failure’ as a grade
in 2010 now has ‘Distinction’, it is no
longer a mere improvement but complete
transformation.
The report observes further that in
Ogun State, “the construction permitting
system was radically overhauled, with
the state government authorities decentralising
the approval system and a new
committee monitoring delays. Building
permit applications and payments can
now be made simultaneously in district
offices.
Private professionals issue environmental-
impact assessments in accordance
with the conditions and templates
set out in a framework agreement. The
certificate of completion is issued on the
spot, immediately following the final inspection.”
Amosun has moved Ogun State from
F9 under the last administration to A1
in just three years of being the governor.
One can imagine how successful
Ogun would become by the time
Amosun, through the grace of God, concludes
eight yeas in office!