BY AYO FADAKA
IT is a thing of joy to age gracefully and in good health particularly if a man’s life has been of essence to his nation. For Dr Olusegun Kokumo Agagu, his entire life has been of service to the nation.

He began his working career as a University teacher thereby imparting knowledge to another generation, he later became a politician, a vocation that presented him very rare opportunities to provide service to his nation.

Agagu’s entry into politics was not predicated on opportunism or any ambition, rather it was anchored on activism, for him at that time, political participation was merely on the fringe from where he certainly contributed his quota which later led to his full conscription into the mainstream of political participation.

His first recognized political action was in concert with a few of his colleagues who took it upon themselves in 1983 to compute the votes of Chief Adekunle Ajasin as against that of his opponents and this action help to put a lie to the result that FEDECO declared giving electoral victory to the undeserving. Thus it must be underscored that his technical input into that election was of absolute value as it was dominantly responsible for the return of  the stolen verdict of Chief Ajasin.

In 1991, Dr Olusegun Agagu was the surprise choice for the position of Deputy Governor, on the platform of the then Social Democratic Party and on assumption of office he distinguished himself exceedingly to the level that the people clearly identified his content and quality and began to beckon on him to begin preparation for his ascendancy to the ultimate job in the State.

Though he finally became Governor, but before then he was Minister of the Federal Republic, a situation that afforded him the opportunity to show the stuff he is made of, an erudite scholar, a deep thinker and above all a workaholic, a man that can sit behind his desk for hours working assiduously.

As Power and Steel Minister, Olusegun  Agagu made a difference by ensuring that NEPA as it was then generated more power than it ever did previously. As Governor of Ondo State, he made  another  difference: he did a post mortem of the administration it succeeded, audited its programs, modified them, embarked on the production of a Roadmap for the development of the state and prosecuted each of the programs dutifully.

To his credit today, monumental projects  were executed and accomplished, the Igbokoda to the Ilaje waterside road is an attestation to his industry as Governor and so were other projects like  the University of Science and Technology, many road networks across the state, many blocks of model and modern classroom blocks both at the primary and secondary level, borehole projects, a health delivery program that have the people as its centerpiece among many projects. In his time, no project was ever abandoned, all projects executed by that administration were well thought and researched before implementation.

It does not matter your familiarity or closeness to him, should he suspect your inability to perform on any project, be assured that you have lost it. A serious minded fellow who is not given to frivolities in the discharge of his responsibilities, he left the sum of N38billion for the succeeding administration who wasted no time in helping themselves to it.

Today Dr Olusegun Agagu is aging gracefully, his relevance in his environment is underscored by the love he gets from the people of this of this state, however it must be stated  his is not the case of Jack, as he has time for enjoyment too. It is said that the irony of his life is that he both works too hard and plays hard too when he chooses to. For me this is vintage life, happy birthday sir.

*Mr Fadaka writes from Akure.