ONDO STATE AND THIS GROWING CULTURE OF SMALLNESS By Olaitan Adesina
ONDO STATE AND THIS GROWING CULTURE OF SMALLNESS
By Olaitan Adesina
I recently read an article by JJ Omojuwa on the state of governance in Ondo State. His observations were sharp and unsettling, not because they were exaggerated, but because they were accurate. They captured a frustration that many people in the state feel but have lacked the platform to articulate. His piece inspired this reflection, and it is time we confront the uncomfortable truth: Ondo State is drifting, not developing. What we are witnessing is not governance defined by bold ideas, but an administration coasting on minimal effort while celebrating the barest minimum as achievement.
For a state as historically vibrant, intellectually endowed, and resource-rich as Ondo, the emerging culture of smallness is deeply troubling. What should be routine governance is now branded as monumental. What should be expected performance is being framed as extraordinary. When mediocrity becomes the standard, progress dies quietly.
One glaring example is the much publicised “5 kilometres per LGA” road project. When a government begins to market 5 kilometres of road per local government as a landmark achievement, it signals a dangerous lowering of expectations. Eighteen LGAs multiplied by five kilometres is just 90 kilometres. That is not an infrastructural vision. It is municipal housekeeping. It is embarrassing that in 2025, the leadership of a state that once hosted thriving industrial giants is promoting 5 kilometres of tarred road as if it were a mega project.
Governance is not public relations. Infrastructure is not propaganda. Two years into the life of this administration, no signature project stands tall enough to define a legacy. Instead, we are given small targets disguised as grand vision. This shrinking of ambition is not just disappointing. It is harmful.
The 2026 budget tells the same story. It is called the “Budget of Economic Consolidation,” yet capital spending barely approaches 60 percent of the total. A budget cannot consolidate what does not exist. Economic consolidation presupposes existing infrastructure, existing momentum, and existing productive sectors. Ondo State lacks these essentials, yet the rhetoric continues.
Consolidation without investment is simply stagnation. And stagnation is what Ondo State has been perfecting for years.
There was a time when Ondo State stood tall as an industrial centre. Many people still recall the Oluwa Glass Company, a symbol of the state’s former industrial strength. The memory matters because it shows what is possible when a government is intentional. Today, the question is not whether government should run industries. It should not. The real question is whether government is ready to create an enabling environment for industries to thrive again.
So far, that readiness is not evident. There is no clear industrialisation blueprint. No aggressive pursuit of investors. No major infrastructural push to catalyse economic clusters. Two years have passed, and what we have are fragments, not a strategy.
Meanwhile, the state’s natural and geographic advantages are begging for attention. The federal government is pouring billions into the Coastal Road Project. A visionary state government would immediately begin constructing feeder roads, tourism corridors, trade hubs, and coastal development zones that connect Ondo communities to that federal investment. Instead, Ondo State is standing by quietly while others move with intentionality.
Take Araromi Beach for example. Lagos residents routinely visit the beach, some riding motorcycles from Lekki to enjoy the coastal serenity. That level of organic demand is priceless. Any serious government would have built world-class tourism infrastructure there by now. Instead, the area remains underdeveloped, lacking basic facilities, regulations, and commercial strategy.
The same applies to the Epe to Ilaje corridor. Economic activity already flows naturally between Lagos and Ondo, but Ondo State refuses to build the infrastructure needed to scale that trade. Lagos expands its end daily, while Ondo State behaves like an uninterested observer at its own opportunity.
The marine economy is another sleeping giant. With the state’s long coastline, active fishing communities, and maritime potential, Ondo could be a leader in fisheries, aquaculture, logistics, and coastal transport. But this requires a blueprint, investment, and prioritization. None of these are visible today.
Other states with fewer advantages are making bold moves. Ogun is expanding its industrial corridor. Ekiti is investing in knowledge-based development. Anambra is deepening its manufacturing base. Even states with limited resources are pushing their boundaries. Ondo, blessed with more, is stuck doing less.
The truth is simple: Ondo State is not short of ideas. Ondo State is short of political courage. The people are not the limitation. The leadership is.
While the governor makes political promises about votes for 2027, the foundations that would guarantee such loyalty remain neglected. Votes come from performance, not pronouncements. Even the President has repeatedly urged governors to rise to the moment. Ondo has not risen.
Nigeria is moving towards deeper decentralisation. States will increasingly shape their own economic futures. Ondo cannot afford to be left behind because its leaders lack ambition. The future is for the bold, not the timid.
This administration still has time to recalibrate. It still has time to govern with vision rather than routine. It still has time to trade excuses for execution. But time is not an unlimited resource. Every day of small thinking pushes the state further behind its peers.
Ondo people deserve leadership that matches their capacity, their intellect, and their aspirations. They deserve roads that do more than link villages. They deserve industries that produce jobs. They deserve tourism that generates revenue. They deserve a government that recognizes potential and has the will to convert it.
And here is the truth that must be said without varnish:
If this administration refuses to think big, act boldly, and govern with purpose, then it will be remembered not for what it built, but for what it wasted. It will be remembered as the government that inherited opportunity and delivered excuses. It will be remembered as the leadership that traded greatness for comfort.
Ondo State shouldn’t have a government that is content with smallness. The question is whether this administration is willing to rise to the level of the state it claims to serve.
Olaitan Adesina is a poet and the author of “Agidigbo – Soliloquy in Verse”. He writes from Akure, Ondo State
