Dapo Abiodun is Making Ogun the Gate of Development in Nigeria

A visitor driving through Ogun these days often wonders when the state decided to reinvent itself. The question hangs in the air each time another construction site interrupts the roadside scenery. Something deliberate is unfolding.

Prince Dapo Abiodun, governor since 2019 and chair of the Southern Governors’ Forum, has been steering this transformation. He presented a N1.67 trillion budget for 2026 in early December, a plan titled Sustainable Legacy that places infrastructure and education at the top of the ledger. His administration calls its framework ISEYA: roads, schools, health, farms, and jobs.

The ambition gains meaning when seen through geography. Ogun sits on Lagos’s flank, holding the industrial spillover that powers Nigeria’s southwest. Abiodun argues that for the state to serve this role effectively, mobility must be modern. The Ijebu Ode to Epe corridor has already improved access, and new work on Atan to Agbara aims to support a major manufacturing axis.

Air travel shapes the next chapter. The Gateway International Airport is nearing completion and is pitched as an aerotropolis. The idea is simple: a city that rises around an airport, drawing logistics firms, light industries, and service clusters. Supporters call it a leap toward multimodal transport. Investors like the clarity.

Land reform and business regulations form another pillar. Registration processes have been digitised, agencies have been nudged toward transparency, and tax incentives have attracted new factories. State officials claim the internal revenue and GDP have quadrupled under Abiodun’s watch. Analysts typically cite safety in Ogun as a hidden advantage that keeps this momentum steady.

Ogun is building a network that relies on highways, air routes, industrial clusters, and an education system designed to supply talent. If the model holds, the state may soon find itself shaping the future it once waited for.