One Bite at a Time: Abiodun, Tinubu, Keyamo and the Elephant That Flew – Arabambi

………….Governor Abiodun Takes Gold Medal As  Best Governor Ever in Ogun @50 Years

There is an old story they tell in many books, from the Alchemist to the good book itself. A man once asked, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer, of course, is “One bite at a time.” But there is another line, from The Bible and from The Lord of the Rings too: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And another, from The Prophet: “Work is love made visible.”

Put all that together, and you get one truth: Dreams don’t come true by magic. They come true by sweat, by faith, and by leaders who refuse to give up when the thing has not been seen yet.

That is exactly what we witnessed on Saturday in Iperu, Ogun State. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu spent the day with former President Olusegun Obat and other prominent economy power houses, commissioning the Gateway Cargo International Airport. Not a sketch. Not a promise. A real, working airport. Plus two brand new aircraft for Gateway Airline. Plus 1,000 electric bikes, security vehicles, and tractors. Plus a Customs Hub with barracks, a training college, a warehouse, and a hospital. That is not a small day. That is a feast of development.

Let me say it plainly: Governor Dapo Abiodun has done something unprecedented and unparalleled. No governor in Ogun State’s history, going back 50 years, as former President Obasanjo himself noted, has pulled off a feat of this magnitude. An international airport with an independent power supply? That is not just building. That is something done by someone with a thinking cap. That is legacy. And Governor Abiodun himself gave the credit where it belongs—to President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He praised the President’s bold economic reforms: the unification of the foreign exchange rate, the removal of the fuel subsidy, the repositioning of public finance. He said, and he was right, that these reforms have restored investor confidence and attracted foreign direct investment.

This is enormous. And here is why: It is a clear, shining sign that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is coasting home to victory in 2027. You don’t get this level of coordinated progress, airports, airlines, energy, agriculture, security, transport, if the captain is sleeping. You get it when the captain is awake, and the crew is aligned. President Tinubu said it himself: “Our investment is about our people. Development must touch every level.” That is the kind of talk you hear from a man who knows he is on the right track. And the people see it. That is why the APC keeps winning hearts.

But let me speak directly to whoever will succeed Governor Dapo Abiodun. Listen carefully: There lies ahead a herculean task. I mean that word—herculean. Because what Governor Abiodun has built is not a small foundation. It is a skyscraper of progress. The next person in that seat must understand that sustaining this legacy will require more than just showing up. It will require the same fire, the same faith, the same refusal to sleep. You cannot inherit an airport and then rest. You must build the roads that feed it. You must attract the businesses that use it. You must keep the power on, the security tight, the agriculture booming. Governor Abiodun has raised the bar so high that it is now touching the clouds. The next governor must be ready to climb.

And let me also commend the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo. Because an airport doesn’t just happen. It takes federal muscle, regulatory wisdom, and a minister who understands that aviation is the spine of a modern economy. Keyamo has been quietly working, and this Gateway Cargo Airport is a testament to that collaboration. The President also lauded the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for easing business and caring for his workforce. That matters. That’s the teamwork that makes a nation work.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio was also on point—praising Tinubu for starting independent power plants in Lagos back in the day, and now appealing for the decentralisation of the Transmission Company of Nigeria. That’s the kind of bold thinking we need.

In the end, this is simple: President Tinubu is building. Governor Abiodun has delivered. The Minister of Aviation has supported. And the people of Ogun State, and Nigeria, are the winners. To the successor: the baton is heavy. Train well. Because this legacy is not for sleeping. It is for building even higher as LEADERSHIP IS RESPONSIBILITY 

Dr Arabambi Abayomi (FBAU)