Ondo at 50: Celebrating Failure, Presided Over by Silence

Ondo State is turning 50, yet under the current Governor, there is absolutely nothing to celebrate beyond ceremonies and empty optics. After more than two years in office, this administration has perfected one thing: the art of doing nothing while pretending to govern.

A Golden Jubilee is supposed to reflect vision, legacy and progress. Instead, Ondo State is being dragged into its 50th year with no flagship project, no bold intervention, no defining achievement that can honestly be credited to the present Governor. What exactly has he been doing since assuming office? Just occupying space?

Two years is more than enough time to leave fingerprints on governance. Unfortunately, the fingerprints of this administration are nowhere to be found on roads, in hospitals, in schools, in job creation or in economic revival. Ondo people keep searching for impact and keep meeting excuses.

Perhaps the most embarrassing verdict on this government is the optics surrounding the Golden Jubilee itself. The President of the Federal Republic reportedly opted out of attending the celebration, a decision many have interpreted as symbolic. After all, what tangible achievement is there to showcase? What legacy project would justify the presence of the nation’s number one citizen?

Golden anniversaries attract Presidents when there is substance to inspect, progress to commission and leadership to applaud. When there is nothing but banners, slogans and borrowed achievements, even the highest office understands the emptiness of the moment.

This government has reduced leadership to routine survival, no imagination, no urgency and no sense of history. As Ondo clocks 50, the Governor appears more interested in celebrating an anniversary he did nothing to prepare for, hoping that pageantry will cover performance failure.

The tragedy is not only the absence of projects; it is the absence of ambition. While other states use milestones to unveil legacy-defining infrastructure, Ondo State is unveiling backdrops and sound systems.

History does not remember press releases. It remembers roads built, lives improved and systems transformed. Sadly, this Governor is steering Ondo State into its Golden Jubilee with empty hands, thin records and louder excuses than achievements.

Ondo at 50 deserved leadership.
What it got was power without purpose.

This is not a Golden Jubilee.
It is a Golden Missed Opportunity.
Michael Agunloye