June 19, 2026
By Kunle Odusola-Stevenson
There is an old, uncompromising axiom in institutional finance: capital is a coward. It does not move on emotion, it does not capitulate to political applause, and it flees at the very first whisper of instability or regulatory unpredictability.
The recent high-profile engagement between the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the Executive Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has rightfully ignited strategic optimism across the West African sub-region. The announcement of a concrete mobilization timeline for the final quarter of 2026 to develop a power-driven, “plug-and-play” industrial manufacturing hub within the Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) is a monumental economic triumph. It represents a historic second chance for a coastline that boasts Nigeria’s longest stretch of contiguous Atlantic shoreline.
Yet a dangerous trend is emerging. Pundits, public relations commentators, and political analysts are rapidly wrapping this genuine breakthrough in a fabric of unsustainable hyperbole. If left unchecked, this media inflation will sabotage the project before it even begins. To ensure the Olokola vision matures into reality, we must urgently separate cold corporate facts from speculative fiction.
