Gbenga Daniel at 70

Daniel who hails from Sagamu in Ogun State, was born and bred in Ibadan, capital of the old Western Region, now Oyo State. He attended Baptist High School, Abeokuta, and Ibadan Polytechnic, Ibadan, in preparation for tertiary and professional education. It was the University of Lagos that trained him as an engineer, thus laying out his career path.

After the death of Chief Awolowo, he got involved with the Afenifere, the pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, and is believed to have been a silent supporter of the anti- military rule campaign of the 1990s.

It is not surprising that he got fully involved in partisan politics when he joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2001. His choice of the party could have been informed by the fact that the then President Olusegun Obasanjo to whom he was acquainted was in power at the centre and wielded so much power and influence on the political scene.

Obasanjo is known to have boasted that nothing could stand in his way of winning the governorship of his state since many taunted him with the fact that he had to rely on votes from other regions to be elected President in 1999.

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Otunba Daniel’s choice of the PDP could also have stemmed from his calculation that the Alliance for Democracy (AD) ticket would not be available for the 2003 poll since the incumbent, Governor Olusegun Osoba, would have the right of first refusal.

He got elected in 2003, reelected in 2007, though in controversial circumstances, and the jury is still out on his performance in office. What cannot be denied is that he succeeded in attracting businesses to the state since Lagos appeared to be getting choked up. He constructed major roads in the three senatorial districts and also built houses for the people.

His political journey did not terminate at being a governor. He is the incumbent Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District. He left the PDP early enough to win the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the district and roundly defeated Ajibola Kalejaye of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)  in the February 2023 election. Since then, despite being a fresher in the 10th Senate, his voice is sometimes loud in defending or proposing bills or resolutions. He was a major proponent of the South-West Development Commission (SWDC) bill.

Senator Daniel’s life has not only revolved around politics. He is not a politician without a second address. His first full job after serving the country at Lagos State Polytechnic was as Assistant Commercial Manager at Metal Construction West Africa Limited where he had just a short stint. He later joined Schroeder (West Africa) Limited in 1987 where he rose to be the first African to be entrusted with the overall management of the company.

In 1990, barely a decade after his graduation and initiation to the business world, he established Kresta Laurel, the firm that launched him into prominence in the corporate sector. The firm’s success became the launchpad for his foray into partisan politics.

Today, the son of an archbishop has a seat round the table where affairs of Ogun State and Nigeria are discussed. He can, indeed, be said to have fulfilled purpose as a septuagenarian.