Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has dismissed social media criticism of his administration’s performance, saying he has paid his dues in politics and doesn’t need to “blow his own trumpet” for people to feel his impact.
Speaking to a coalition of youth organizations at the Governor’s Office in Abeokuta, Abiodun said: “I normally don’t get disturbed by such things because one of my mentors in politics told me that in politics, you must make sure that you are mentioned either for the right or wrong reasons, but be continuously mentioned because if you are not mentioned, you are just part of the crowd.”
Abiodun, who became a senator at 35, said he had been in politics long enough to know what he was doing.
He said, “For me, I am not bothered that I have been under attack by faceless people on social media because I know what I am. I know who I am. I know what I did before I became governor. I know how long I have been on this journey. I know what I did before I became governor. I know how long I have been on this journey. I became a senator before I was 35, the youngest at that time… I have been on this space in the state contesting on different platforms from that time until God decided that He was going to make me a governor.”
He highlighted his administration’s achievements in health, education, infrastructure, and security, saying: “Our Internally Generated Revenue was around N50 billion a year before. But in four years, we have grown it to almost N200 billion, and someone says Dapo Abiodun is just sitting in Ogun State and doing nothing. That has to be a joke.”
Abiodun appealed to Nigerian youths to engage constructively with the government to find solutions to the country’s problems, rather than resorting to protests.
He recalled the destruction caused by the EndSARS protests in 2020, saying: “There is a Yoruba proverb that says ‘beheading is not the solution for a headache’. If there are issues, let us discuss them, let us find a way around them, and let us manage and correct them.”
He advised against protests, saying they could aggravate issues without finding solutions. “Let us not cut off the head or attempt to cut off the head because of a headache. That will amount to decapitation.”
