Justus Olugbenga Daniel has enjoyed the best of two worlds. He started as a consummate businessman, conquering the corporate world, and through this became a major contributor to the technological and economic development of the country via Kresta Laurel, the country’s leading brand in elevators, escalators, and associated engineering configurations, founded by him when he was 34. He thereafter veered into the slippery world of politics. In politics, he has also made his mark, becoming, in the process, a two-term governor of Ogun State between 2003 and 2011, and he was voted into office in 2023 as the Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly.
However, he did not get to the pinnacle of statecraft by sudden flight. While his foray into politics may have been accidental, his motivation to serve and give back to society was methodical and concretized through the Gateway Front Foundation (GFF), which he established to give succour to the less privileged in society. GFF, through which he bonded with the people, provided the platform that eventually catapulted him to the highest political office in the land of his birth.
In his two terms as Governor, Daniel ran a people-oriented administration, and his programmes and policies were, as a matter of rule, invested with a human face and compassion for the teeming masses. It is therefore not surprising that years after, his imprimatur of good governance is still clearly discernible throughout the length and breadth of Ogun State, and he remains a much-loved leader of his people. So much is known about his contributions here, and some have erroneously defined his person via his own acts as governor and senator and what his opponents threw against him in the many contrived wars against his person and administration. But there is more to this Daniel than a political juggernaut who fought many battles and became, perhaps, the most vilified governor of his time.
Daniel is a workaholic whose penchant for paying attention to detail is renowned. He does not believe in half measures, and this businesslike approach to all matters became his credo as Governor. He never relied on second-hand information. He was always on the move, and by the end of his tenure, he had toured every ward in Ogun State at least twice. Ogun State was the better for his sagacity and mobility. He built structures and also ensured that he built the people. He cemented his bond with the people, felt their pains, provided succour, and changed their living conditions for the better.
Daniel believes that developmental projects that uproot people without any alternative are not just anti-people but completely incompatible with democratic norms and good governance. He never allowed bulldozers to demolish houses, buildings, and business concerns without first providing alternatives. This was demonstrated during the construction of the Abeokuta–Siun–Sagamu Expressway in 2004. The 38km road was redesigned and reconstructed into a dual carriageway with streetlights all through the entire stretch of the road and a beautifully designed divider with well-groomed grass.
The truism that roads bring development was concretized during the process of construction. Perhaps for the first time in the history of road construction in the country, new houses were constructed for the villagers whose buildings fell within the right-of-way of the dualization of the Abeokuta–Siun–Sagamu road. The buildings were only demolished after the villagers had moved to their new abodes. The villagers also got light and water in their new abodes, everything for free from the government. The red brick houses still dot different villages along the route of the road, constructed entirely by the Ogun State Road Management Agency (OGROMA), established by Governor Daniel to firm up the competence of indigenous manpower and create jobs for the young ones.
The legacies of Daniel’s eight years of stewardship are still as solid as Olumo Rock and imperishable in the landscape of the State and the hearts of its people. He is seen as Mr. Equity because of his even-handed distribution of projects across the three senatorial districts and four main divisions of the State. Egbaland, the seat of the State capital, was opened up and given a new lease of life while Daniel held sway. The emerging new business district, accentuated by the domineering presence of the OPIC Twin Tower, Lalubu Road, hitherto a centre of gridlock, was redesigned and reconstructed with six macadamized lanes, with banks and top-of-the-range boutiques dotting its entire stretch. Abeokuta–Siun Expressway, the refurbished Olumo Rock, the housing estates in Asero, the refurbished MKO Abiola International Stadium, the complete turnaround at the State Hospital Ijaiye, the best purpose-built State Secretariat in the South West, the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Hilltop Estate, a campus of Olabisi Onabanjo University of Technology at Ibogun, the homestead of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Laderin Workers Estate, and a new Gateway ICT Polytechnic in Itori are some of the legacies that have become signposts of the Daniel era in Egbaland, the hometown of the legendary Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the man who paid the supreme price for our democracy. They are visible testimonies of the gains of the Ogun Central Senatorial District in the eight years of Daniel.
Yewaland was lifted out of obscurity and placed on the same pedestal as other sections of the State. The administration established a School of Nursing at Ilaro, constructed a glittering new stadium of international standard, and the most functional Free Trade Zone in the South West in the land of birth of the famous Dr. Tunji Otegbeye. The fledgling business enclave called Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone in Igbesa is home to many businesses, creating employment opportunities for indigenes and non-indigenes. The Yewas also have a campus of OOU and a new ICT Polytechnic among the projects they are counting as part of their gains under the progressive era of Daniel.
The Ijebus and the Remos can also hail Daniel for giving them their own fair share from Ogun State patrimony. The Gateway International Stadium in Ijebu–Ode, which has played host to many international competitions, ranks among the best in the country. There is also the Tai Solarin University of Education, the first in the country {now the Tai Solarin Federal University of Education}, an ICT-based Polytechnic in Ijebu Igbo, several kilometres of road, and, of course, the multi–billion-naira LNG Project at the Olokola Free Trade Zone, which is still in the making due mainly to political machinations after Daniel’s exit from power. The Remos also have a stadium of their own and the best NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in the country. They also have their own ICT-based Polytechnic at Saapade, all thanks to Daniel and his team. He also conceptualised and laid the groundwork for the Ogun State Cargo Airport.
The establishment of many higher institutions was part of a deliberate effort to shore up the human capital development of the state. Under the Human Capital Development (HUCAP) initiative, some indigenes were sent to first-rate institutions abroad, and a number of them are back in the country contributing to its development. Indeed, one of them, a computer expert, is currently making waves at TASFUED, developing the institution’s ICT templates for various programmes.
The conducive business climate created by the Daniel administration attracted investors and entrepreneurs from within the country and across the globe, leading to the creation of many jobs and the expansion of the economic base of the State. The establishment of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), still extant, is also a key contribution of Daniel to the development of Ogun State.
Under Daniel, Ogun became the country’s leading investment destination of choice.
Expectedly, the plot to derail his government by some entrenched interests made the headlines in the latter part of his tenure. There were various schemes to cut Daniel to size, and some of his external opponents got internal help. So much dirt was thrown at Daniel, especially during his second term, as many forces from within and without battled for political control and the soul of the State. While he was in office, his traducers, with the support of some insiders, threw everything at him, but they could not overawe him. The war of attrition continued after May 29, 2011, when he finished his second term. Apparently, they had concluded that, shorn of the paraphernalia of office and its immunity, he would be an easy pick to be taken out. They never reckoned with his resilience, the transparent way he ran his administration, and the people’s appreciation of his contribution to the Ogun project. He came out unscathed, getting a clean bill of health from the courts.
It was the same doggedness that he brought into his assignment on the political terrain when he was beckoned to coordinate the 2018 campaign of Atiku Abubakar, who was seeking the presidential ticket of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Daniel, as the Director-General, crisscrossed the length and breadth of the country with his candidate. Through deft political moves and well-defined strategies, Daniel led Team Atiku to victory at the PDP presidential primaries in Port Harcourt. The team delivered the PDP ticket to Atiku. After that, through some political manoeuvrings, the winning team was asked to take the back seat, and another ran the presidential campaign.
In February 2021, the pragmatic Daniel joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) and eventually won the Ogun East senatorial seat. In Abuja, Daniel’s imprimatur of excellence is quite discernible, with his magnum opus as a Senator being the South-West Development Commission Bill (SB 102), which he sponsored to concrete reality through presidential assent on March 25, 2025. The Commission has since been established and is now functional.
The Commission is a monumental plus for the Southwest. It secures federal funding for roads and erosion control across all the South-West states. OGD has effectively institutionalised the development of the region. Only a leader of his experience could push such a massive regional bill to the finish line.
Some of the other projects he facilitated include the Abigi Naval Base and kilometres of road on Simawa Road. He is delivering “stomach infrastructure” and “physical infrastructure” simultaneously.
OGD’s transformer distribution in Ijebu Ode, Sotubo Sagamu, Ijebu East, Odogbolu, etc., installations of solar lights in Isara, Obafemi Awolowo Way GRA Sagamu, Ijebu Igbo, Ago Iwoye, rehabilitation of Obafemi Awolowo Way Sagamu, construction and rehabilitation of Abigi/Makun Omi Naval Base, construction of Awokoya Road, Ijebu Ode, construction of Odo-Egbo Junction/Ereko Street/Ondo Road Junction, Ijebu Ode, reconstruction of Joseph Oladeinde/Sani Luba Road, Ijebu Ode, Simawa Road, and Ewuga Road, Sagamu, show a Senator delivering dividends of democracy to his constituents.
Through the establishment of the Political Academy (POLA), Daniel is contributing to the deepening of democracy by training budding political leaders and shaping discourse that will contribute to the strengthening of Project Nigeria.
Daniel’s legacies of good governance, infused with the milk of human kindness, remain imperishable throughout the landscape of Ogun State. The tintinnabulation of the imprimatur of his excellent service while he held sway as Governor is still reverberating beyond the shores of Ogun State. At the National Assembly, as the Senator representing Ogun East, he has continued to hold his own and carved a niche as a worthy representative of his people and Nigeria.
We celebrate an astute businessman, entrepreneur, and employment generator, a professional in politics, a philanthropist of note, a quintessential administrator, and a patriot of the finest variety, H.E. Otunba Justus Gbenga Daniel, Governor of Ogun State (2003–2011), and current Senator representing Ogun East, on his 70th birthday.
-Adebanjo served as Senior Special Assistant, Public Communications, and later as Chief Press Secretary in the administration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel between 2004 and 2011
