Reinventing Osun’s Economy Through Dagbolu Intl. Trade Centre: From Quiet Market Lessons To Regional Trade Revolution By Adeboye Adebayo

A piece titled:“My Observatory: When the Quiet Competition Redefined Lagos’ Food Markets” written by Egbon Sola Fanawopo got me thinking this morning and it led me to this article after a critical reflection of Osun economy with all the positive factors available for its growth and development.

The transformation of Lagos’ food markets offers Osun State a hard economic lesson; markets reward structure, logistics, finance, and organization, no political sentiment this time.

When the supply chain architecture shifted after the decline of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, power moved from traditional retail dominance to aggregation hubs like Mile 12 Market. Those who controlled logistics and credit systems reshaped the market.

Osun State is now standing at a similar crossroads.

And the sleeping giant capable of redefining its economic destiny is the Dagbolu International Trade Centre.

Dagbolu International Trade Centre As An Ignored Economic Master Key.

Located strategically along Osogbo – Ikirun axis, the Dagbolu International Trade Centre was conceived as more than a market. It was meant to be; a regional aggregation hub,
a logistics redistribution centre,
a commercial industrial area and a trade gateway for Southwestern Nigeria.

Yet successive administrations have treated it as a mere physical infrastructure project rather than what it truly is; an economic restructuring tool.

Here is the mistake. Dagbolu is not about stalls. It is about systems.

The Lagos Lesson; Control the Hub, Control the Economy: The rise of centralized wholesale markets in Lagos shows one thing clearly, Whoever controls aggregation controls pricing. Whoever controls logistics controls margins. Whoever controls credit controls survival.

If Osun continues operating with Fragmented roadside sellers, Disorganized rural producers, High-interest micro borrowing, No centralized produce exchange, then value will continue to leak outward to Ibadan, to Lagos, to Kano but
Dagbolu can reverse that trend.

What Dagbolu Should Become
Instead of another underutilized trade complex, Dagbolu can be repositioned as:

1. A Dry Inland Port & Logistics Corridor: Osun is centrally located between Lagos ports,
Northern agricultural belts,
Southwestern consumption zones.

Dagbolu can serve as: Container consolidation centre, Agro-produce export staging point,
Warehousing and cold storage hub.

A properly structured dry inland port model would: Reduce logistics cost, Attract freight companies, Create thousands of jobs, Increase internally generated revenue.

2. An Agricultural Commodity Exchange Hub.

Osun farmers currently sell: Cassava, Cocoa, Maize, Vegetables, without structured price discovery.

Dagbolu can house: Bulk storage facilities, Commodity grading systems, Cooperative financing platforms, Aggregation warehouses.

This allows: Better bargaining power, Standardization, Access to larger markets.

3. A Cooperative Finance & Trade Credit Platform.

One of the strongest lessons from Lagos is trust-based supply chains. Dagbolu can institutionalize this by creating:
Registered trader clusters, Cooperative-backed trade credit,
Structured buy-now-pay-later systems, Low-interest revolving inventory funds.

Instead of informal fragmentation, Osun traders would operate under organized credit architecture.

That is how you beat roadside inefficiency without confrontation.

4. A Youth Enterprise & Logistics Innovation Zone: Osun has thousands of unemployed but energetic youths.

Dagbolu can host: E-commerce distribution centres, Agro-processing startups, Packaging hubs, Cold-chain management services, Digital inventory platforms.

Instead of watching other states dominate distribution networks, Osun can build its own.

Why Successive Governments Ignore It: The problem is political economy and lack of foresight. Infrastructure like road, bridges and the likes give ribbon-cutting views. But Systems give long-term power shifts.
Dagbolu requires a serious government-backed institutional reform, policy clarity, partnerships, trade finance restructuring and strong executive coordination that come only through willingness and sincerity of a patriotism-led government.

It is easier to build roads than to build economic architecture.
But without architecture, roads simply export poverty faster.

The Holistic Economic Impact for Osun is enormous, If properly activated, Dagbolu will Increase state IGR sustainably, Reduce rural-urban economic leakage, Strengthen farmer income, Lower food prices, Formalize informal trade, Create structured employment, Position Osun as a regional trade gateway.This is not theory, it is supply chain economics.

The Strategic Question for Osun now is, will Osun remain a consumption state Or will it become a coordination state?

The transformation of Lagos markets shows that silent economic revolutions happen when organization outpaces tradition. Osun still has the advantage of foresight.

Dagbolu International Trade Centre is not just land and buildings, it is a blueprint for:
Industrialization, Logistics sovereignty, Agricultural modernization, Financial re-engineering.

The point I am driving is that
markets do not wait, value migrates, capital reorganizes and efficiency wins.

Dagbolu can be Osun’s Mile 12 moment but this time, designed intentionally rather than discovered accidentally.

If activated strategically, it can redefine Osun’s economic destiny for the next 30 years.

The choice is not whether Dagbolu will matter. The choice is whether Osun will wake up before history quietly repeats itself again.

May God turns the unfortunate situation of our dear state to a great possible fortune.

My name is Comrade Adeboye Adebayo.

Disclaimer: This piece represents the opinion of the writer not that of CityMirrorNews