Gbenga Daniel, the senator representing Ogun East, has said the natives of Ogun State have reached an agreement for the creation of a new state from the old Ijebu province to be named Ijebu-Remo. 

Mr Daniel, who had, in November 2024, sponsored the bill for the establishment of the state from the old Ijebu province, comprising the Remo and Ijebu divisions, said the new name was decided upon at a meeting of the Remo Traditional Council on Thursday. All traditional rulers in Remoland attended.

Presenting his address on Friday at the public hearing on the Constitution Alterations Bills at the National Assembly, Mr Daniel, a former governor of Ogun State, said the creation of the new state was a consensus among the natives.

“Our people in Remo at a meeting of the Traditional Council held yesterday, which was attended by almost all the Obas of Remoland, have expressed their desire to go with their kins in Ijebuland once their name and identity are reflected in the name of the proposed new state; Ijebu-Remo State, just like it was done for Akwa Ibom State. 

“I need to emphasise that this is a general consensus, a development which I believe will make history for which our people will forever be grateful,” he said. 

He noted that Ijebu had remained the only province without a state, emphasising that there is a need to correct what he described as “a mistake, unfair treatment, and injustice” over the years. 

“But we are not here to demand a state not just because we deserve it through history, we are here to present our case in relation to the requirements of law. Our proposed state out of the old Ijebu province will be a child born with a silver spoon. 

“The old Ijebu province is home to the fastest growing industrial hub in the country, the internally generated revenue from the region makes up a significant portion of Ogun State’s revenue,” Mr Daniel added. 

The former governor said the province was endowed with various opportunities and resources that would aid Nigeria’s development, including an international agro-cargo airport, a deep-sea port underway at Olokola FTZ, and an untapped supply of bitumen, crude oil, and limestone, as well as the cultural festival Ojude Oba.

“I am confident that if given an opportunity for us to manage our affairs, this homogeneous region with common cultural, language and social heritage will be a great addition to the collective prosperity of Nigeria,” Mr Daniel added.

He, however, rallied his colleagues in the National Assembly to support the creation and ensure that President Bola Tinubu assented to the constitutional amendments. 

Since his emergence as the senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Mr Daniel had conveyed the agitations of his kinspeople for an independent state.

Early this year, Peoples Gazette exclusively reported how Mr Tinubu gave the Awujale of Ijebuland, Sikiru Adetona, his strongest assurances that he will endorse the creation of Ijebu State as a carve-out from Ogun State. 

Its introduction at the Senate by Mr Daniel brings a decades-long hankering of the million-strong Ijebu tribal stock closer to realisation.