The former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has been announced as the Loosi of Ikenne by the Alakenne of Ikenne, His Royal Highness, Alayeluwa Oba Adeyinka Onakade, Moruwafu 1.
In a letter signed by the traditional council’s secretary, Hon. Jaiyepe Oreselu, on behalf of the respected monarch and made available to Freelanews, the former governor was honoured because Alakenne considered him ‘worthy, deserving and people oriented personalia’.
With this investiture, Ogidi Omo, as Otunba Daniel is fondly called, now shares, among many other qualities, with the late Yoruba leader and the first indigenous premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was also Loosi of Ikenne while alive.
Recall that few years ago, Otunba Daniel, was conferred with the Asiwaju Onigbagbo of Remo Christians (Asiwaju of Remo Christians), a title which was also held by the late sage, Awolowo in his lifetime.
Born on 6 April 1956 into the family of Rt. Rev. Adebola Daniel of Makun Sagamu and Madam Olaitan Daniel, of Omu Ijebu, Otunba Gbenga Daniel was governor of Ogun State between 2003 and 2011, running on the PDP platform and beating the incumbent with 217, 353 votes.
His victory remains the biggest electoral victory in Ogun state. He scored 449,335 votes against the sitting governor who scored 231,982 votes recording the widest margin ever in Ogun State governorship race.
The former governor was conferred the chiefly title Otunba of the Egba and Ijebu clans of the state during the course of his first term.
Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s skills as a consumable manager and strategist manifested as early as 1969 while at the Baptist Boys’ High School, Abeokuta that he attended from 1969 to 1973. While there, he represented the school in a lot of extra curricular activities such as debates and quiz competitions, a factor which made him exceptionally popular among his contemporaries and which also stimulated his intellectual prowess.
Daniel, a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, taught briefly as a lecturer in the School of Engineering of Lagos State Polytechnic. He is also a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (FNAEng) and Institute of Directors (FIoD).
In 1983, he obtained a job with Schroeder (W.A.) Limited, Lagos, rising to deputy managing director becoming the first African to hold that position in the history of the company. He left Schroeder to start his own business.
The owner of Kresta Laurel, an engineering firm specialising in elevators, overhead travelling cranes and hoists, he started in 1990, OGD is also the founder of Conference Hotels with branches in Ijebu-Ode, Sagamu, Abeokuta and Isheri part of Lagos.
The official date for his investiture as the new Loosi of Ikenne, according to Ikenne Traditional Council, will be communicated soon.
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