It was a homecoming steeped in history and nostalgia, as old members and ex-students of Gateway Front Foundation and Political Academy, POLA, converged at Obalofin Court, GRA, Ijebu Ode, on Sunday, August 9, 2026, for a special reunion session. Friends, old, new, and prospective members of the Gateway Front Foundation, GFF, gathered to chart the course for the foundation’s coming 25th anniversary celebration in Ogun State, in a gathering many will not forget in a hurry.
It was a great union of old and new members, many of whom had not set eyes on one another in some 20 years, as the gathering turned into a homecoming of sorts for hundreds of former and current members who trooped to the founder’s historic residence, where the foundation’s activities first took root in the year 2000 and have continued unbroken till date.
A special delegation led by a former Executive Secretary of GFF, Chief (Mrs) Folake Marcus-Bello, was on hand, alongside some of the foundation’s oldest and most reliable members, among them Hon. Ladi Adebutu, Mr Kehinde Sogunle, Prince Lekan Tejuoso, Hon. Wale Ogunbanjo, Hon. (Arc.) Kayode Adebayo, Otunba R.A. Adenaike, Engr. Ayinde Awobadejo, Chief Tola Odulaja, and Otunba Stiles, who represented the septuagenarian caucus of GFF members. Also in attendance was the Executive Secretary of GFF, Dr Babatunde Onadeko.
The Founder and Chairman of Gateway Front Foundation, Otunba Senator Gbenga Daniel, who has presided over the Ogun State-based body since its founding in 2000, personally received the old and new members at Obalofin, in what many described as a fitting reaffirmation of the bonds the foundation has forged over a quarter of a century.
For the records, the founding members of GFF are Otunba Senator Gbenga Daniel, the founder and Chairman; Yeye Olufunke Daniel; Arc. Kayode Anibaba; Lekan Belo; Dolapo Balogun; Kola Onadipe; Kunle Shokunbi; Kola Ayanwale; Engr. Ife Oyedele; and Chief (Mrs) Tola Olujobi, who is now late. Hon. Ladi Adebutu, though a long-standing and prominent member of GFF, is not one of the founding members, having joined the fold during the campaigns for the 2003 general elections.
Hon. Ladi Adebutu, his deputy, and several members of the GFF entourage had earlier paid a courtesy call on the foremost Ogun State politician and founder of GFF, signing the resolution on state creation during the visit. Among those on the entourage were the second Executive Secretary of GFF, Ambassador Folake Marcus-Bello, a former commissioner; Kehinde Sogunle, a financial member of GFF and Chief Knowledge Officer of Lead Resources; Prince Lekan Tejuoso, former Commissioner for Cooperative Development; and Femi Omotayo, another GFF member.
A major takeaway from yesterday’s special GFF mini-summit was the decision to press ahead with plans for the foundation’s coming 25th anniversary, billed for August, with members resolving to put in place the structures needed to make the milestone a memorable one. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may feature as Special Guest of Honour at the anniversary programme, sources at the summit indicated.
As part of the anniversary festivities, a select group of prominent personalities of Ogun State origin are also expected to be decorated with awards in categories such as Grand Patrons and Life Patrons, among others, as will be determined by the planning committee.
A 25th Anniversary Special Implementation Committee was constituted at the reunion, to be headed by the second Executive Secretary of GFF, Ambassador Folake Marcus-Bello, who will midwife the arrangements for the milestone celebration alongside other committee members.
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