By Ganiyu Adewale Adefulu
Ogun State has had its own share of electing women as Deputy Governors since the inception of the Fourth Republic.
The state deserves commendation for consistently giving women the opportunity to occupy the office of Deputy Governor.
Successive administrations have demonstrated a willingness to promote gender inclusion at the highest level of governance.
However, an important question remains:
Has this translated into genuine political empowerment,
Or
Have these appointments merely served as symbolic gestures?
Ogun State has been blessed with intelligent, accomplished, and highly experienced women who have served as Deputy Governors.
Yet, despite their competence, many appeared to have been treated as political ornaments.
Rather than as strategic partners in governance.
They fulfilled the constitutional requirement of the office, but were rarely positioned as natural successors to their principals.
What is even more striking is that the political careers of these women hardly progressed beyond their tenure as Deputy Governor.
Despite their loyalty, dedication, and support for the governors they served, none was meaningfully positioned to succeed or assume a more influential political role after leaving office.
Their political journeys effectively ended at the discretion of the very leaders under whom they faithfully served.
This raises fundamental questions for the former governors and the incumbent Governor.
If these women were considered competent enough to be trusted with the office of Deputy Governor.
Why were they not considered capable of succeeding their principals?
Do our political leaders truly believe in leadership development through mentorship, practical governance, and continuity of policies?
Or is the office of Deputy Governor merely a constitutional necessity with little prospect for advancement?
I invite professors, political scientists, historians, and public affairs analysts to examine this recurring pattern and help explain why Ogun State has yet to produce a governor from among its female Deputy Governors.
It would be a tragic waste of human resources if accomplished professionals like Alhaja Kudirat Balogun were to leave careers in which they have positively impacted thousands of lives, only to become spare tyres in administrations that neither fully appreciate nor effectively utilise their competence, experience, and immense value.
If women are good enough to be Deputy Governors, they should also be considered good enough to become Governors.
The conversation continues.