One year after  Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa hosted his Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Mohammed, in a high profile ceremony heralding a $2.6 billion investment that was supposed to transform Ondo State’s economy, there is little to show for the much celebrated deal beyond Memoranda of Understanding and political speeches.

 

The investment, announced with enthusiasm on July 11, 2025, was expected to establish a fertilizer production and harmonial plant, alongside a petrochemical industry, within 12 months.

 

The Executive Director of Residents Group Cement, Abbas Waziri, had publicly committed to the timeline, stating that, “We are looking at investing $2.6 billion in the State, and within 12 months it would be ready.”

 

With the deadline now expired, there is no construction activity at any designated site for the project in the state, as well as no factory erected and no jobs created.

 

For the people of the state, particularly the unemployed youths, the silence is deafening, with the government not speaking on what could be the delay.

 

When Aiyedatiwa unveiled the investment alongside the Bauchi Governor at the Government House, Alagbaka, Akure, Ondo State capital, residents had dared to hope that it was the turning point, the moment the state would finally break free from its overreliance on paychecks from Abuja and transition into an industrial economy.

 

With the timeline given past, that hope remains unfulfilled as the state’s civil service status, which successive administrations have pledged to overcome, persists unchanged.

 

The Ondo State Government did sign Memoranda of Understanding at the 2026 Ondo State Investment Summit in February as part of the governor’s first anniversary celebrations.

 

A second MOU was signed with Resident Fertilizer for a $4 billion petrochemical fertilizer plant in the Southern Senatorial District, with Aiyedatiwa declaring at the summit that “the era of dependence on civil service-driven growth was over.”

 

According to findings, both MOUs remain at the preliminary stage. No ground-breaking ceremony has been held. No site preparation has commenced. The state government has not provided any progress update on the projects since the February summit.

 

“We were told the plant would be ready within 12 months. Now one year has passed, and we are still waiting. Our young people are still roaming the streets looking for jobs. Nothing has changed,” a resident, Seye Fadoju stated.

 

The governor had assured investors that infrastructure was being put in place, flagging off the dualization of the Igbokoda to Okitipupa road and promising that the second phase to Ore would be completed before the plant was finished.

 

Aiyedatiwa has also been pursuing the long-awaited Ondo Deep Seaport project, describing it as a “game-changer” for the state’s economic growth.

 

In January 2026, he stated that the seaport would be delivered before the end of his administration. Recently, he met with Aliko Dangote to advance the Olokola Free Trade Zone development.

 

The state’s special adviser on entrepreneurship and innovation, Summy Smart-Francis, had promised that the administration was taking deliberate steps to transform Ondo from a “civil service–dependent economy into a diversified and industrialized one.”

 

When contacted over the development, the commissioner for information and orientation in the state, Idowu Ajanaku, said, “The delay is the issue with the foreign partners because there are certain measures that have been introduced by the federal government now for foreign investors as regards the number of Nigerians that will be directors in those companies.

 

“The modalities could be the reasons for the proceedings. Hopefully by October, the investor will be on-site to kickstart the project.”