Governor Seyi Makinde’s Youth Initiatives: Preparing young people for great future|Daramola Fisayo

The Oyo State Government under Governor Seyi Makinde has been in the lead when it comes to the provision and implementation of youth development programs, empowerment opportunities and humanitarian interventions to promote sustainable livelihood amongst its youths and vulnerable population.

Some of the achievements in the state were actualized through policy formulation and implementation of youth programs and activities.

Before Seyi Makinde assumed office as governor in 2019, he was able to justify his love for youth and believed that youths are the leaders of tomorrow. While he was vying for a governorship ticket, even being a major financier of his political party, he never opposed the idea of his party, the PDP, fielding youths as candidates.

With his influence and unrelenting political efforts of the youth, over 90 percent of the youth that contested alongside Governor Makinde in 2019 in his party won their elections as well as re-election in 2023.

Over the years, Governor Seyi Makinde’s leadership has been able to produce future leaders for the state through elective and non-elective posts.

To mention a few, Governor Seyi Makinde, in 2019, supported 32-year-old Debo Ogundoyin to emerge as the youngest House of Assembly speaker in Nigeria. Rt. Hon. Ogundoyin won his second term and was returned as the Assembly speaker for the second time.

Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration has been able to produce 28 years old, Hon. Yussuff Oladeni who emerged as Oyo State House of Assembly’s deputy chief whip, while Hon. Olasunkanmi Babalola, also less than 30 years of age, emerged as the deputy minority leader.

Hon. Mogaji Akinajo, Hon. Fola Oyekunle, Hon. Qozeem Olayanju, Hon Gabriel Babajide, Hon. Ayo Fatokun, and some others were less than 40 years old when elected as state lawmakers, and all were able to justify and are still justifying the confidence reposed in them by the Governor and the state.

The executive arm of Government also had 28 years old Seun Fakorede as Commissioner for Youth and Sports, 31 years old Kazeem Bolarinwa as Special Assistant on Youth, while the resilient 25years old Victor Olojede was Special Assistant on Students Affairs at the time of his appointment in November 2019.

While the young lawmakers and the young appointees are proving themselves capable, the governor, Seyi Makinde, is also displaying reliability and trustworthiness in several respects. Aside from setting a record as a governor who runs his administration successfully with young legislators and appointees, Governor Makinde’s government is also regarded as the highest employer of youths.

Since assuming office as the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Makinde has always reiterated the commitment of his administration to creating an enabling environment for youths to be gainfully employed as well as asserting the readiness of his administration to create an environment where the youths would get alternative employment outside of government establishments.

Governor Makinde has institutionalized the recruitment process in the state to be fair for job seekers who are predominantly youths and without political interference.

In his first term, Governor Makinde’s government recruited 5,000 teachers and 700 non-teaching staff converted to teaching cadres. At the time, he also recruited 500 health workers to fill the gap in the health sector across the state.

Again this year, Governor Makinde approved the recruitment list of 7500 teaching and 500 non-teaching new staff for the Oyo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM)as well as the recruitment of 7,000 primary school teachers and 100 caregivers in special schools across the state into the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (Oyo SUBEB), to address the manpower shortage in the state educational sector.

The Governor also approved that teachers who were seconded from SUBEB be permanently integrated into the Oyo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) without any further delay. All recruitment processes have been concluded by both TESCOM and SUBEB, as names of successful applicants have been released.

Aside from TESCOM and SUBEB recruitment, the Oyo State Government has recruited no fewer than 500 new young officers into the Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority (OYRTMA), aimed at enhancing traffic regulation across the State.

Also, last May, through the Hospitals Management Board, Governor Seyi Makinde approved the immediate recruitment of doctors, nurses, consultants and other healthcare professionals. The significance of the governor’s decision to recruit additional healthcare professionals is to directly address the shortage of staff in hospitals and healthcare centers across the state.

Seyi Makinde has also been busy wooing investors to the state so that the teeming unemployed youth population can also get job opportunities in the private sector. He has always emphasized the readiness of the government to support youths who want to go into small-scale businesses and become employers of labor.

The Oyo State Government under Governor Makinde in his first term trained 3,300 youths from the state on agriculture and agribusiness after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the CSS Global Integrated Farms in Nasarawa State.

The move is said to be part of measures being taken by the administration to address the challenges of youth unrest and youth unemployment.

Also, on 15th August 2024, Governor Makinde announced the approval of the sum of ₦500m aimed at empowering trained Oyo youths in the Agribusiness Program (YEAP); the initiative is in partnership with the FCMB to launch a ₦1.5bn loan scheme.

The scheme is designed to provide financial support and bolster the agricultural sector by leveraging the skills of young entrepreneurs who have completed state-sponsored training programs under the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency.

Seyi Makinde’s administration has been investing heavily in sports development to take youths off the streets. His administration is committed to the development of sports and has resolved to boost youth participation in grassroots sports.

The governor, during a Stakeholders’ Consultative Meeting on the 2022 Budget, disclosed that his government committed resources of about N6bn to remodel the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, not only for football but for other sporting activities. He said the remodeling of the stadium and the upgrade of sporting facilities across the state is to keep the youth gainfully engaged.

Seyi Makinde, in his effort to continue engaging the youth, even at the grassroots level had upgraded and constructed sports centers/facilities, which included, construction of mini stadium in Igboora, Ibarapa, reconstruction of Olubadan mini stadium, Ibadan, upgrade of Durbar Stadium, Oyo, upgrade of Soun Stadium, Ogbomoso, upgrade of Saki Township stadium and the remodelling of Ebedi Township Stadium, Iseyin. Also, the Bodija Recreation Centre, Ibadan is under construction. The effects of Governor Makinde’s unrelenting effort in youth engagement through sports are the impressive performances of the state contingents at the last two National Youth Games.

During his second term as governor, aside from sports engagement and absorbing employable youth into the state’s workforce, Seyi Makinde is also busy engaging state youths through the state Agency for Youth under the chairmanship of Comrade Adebowale Falana. Governor Seyi Makinde also strengthened youth engagement through the inclusion of former Commissioner Seun Fakorede into the government as Executive Adviser on Youth Development.

The Oyo State Government, through the Youth Agency under the chairmanship of Prince Adebowale Falana, has continued to develop and engage in programs and projects that would protect the rights of the state youths and make them responsible citizens.

The reinvigorated Agency for Youth under Governor Seyi Makinde has engaged the youth in various capacity building in conjunction with all Youth Organizations, both Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations. As part of a strategic effort to create employment opportunities and enhance digital literacy for youths in the state, the Oyo State Government, through the Agency for Youth Development, recently trained no fewer than 3,000 young individuals in various digital skills.

The registered youths had the opportunity to learn a series of virtual courses covering areas such as web development, online publishing, data analysis, and social media management, among others.

Recently on behalf of the state government and in line with Governor Seyi Makinde’s commitment to youth empowerment and development, the Executive Adviser on Youth and Sports, Seun Fakorede, and Victor Olojede Senior Special Assistant on Student Affairs were in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, to meet with a Tech Hub and Consulting firm; the mission was to foster global partnerships for Youth Empowerment in Oyo State.

This engagement which was done on behalf of the state government aims to solidify partnerships benefiting Oyo State’s youth in sports, education, arts, culture, technology, and digital transformation. The collaboration is said to focus on facilitating joint ventures between Oyo State and NRW, encouraging knowledge exchange, research, and capacity building.

Establishing innovation hubs fostering technological advancement and bringing global opportunities to the state youths through workshops, seminars, fellowships and training.
The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in the last five years has no doubt been continuously engaging the youths politically, economically and socially. His government is moving towards the trajectory where young leaders are now thinking in terms of bridging the leadership vacuum in the state.