The General For The Job: Adekanmbi Picks Veteran Strategist To Deliver Omituntun 3.0

In politics, names are mentioned often. But few names carry the weight of history, structure, and capacity like Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran. He has now been appointed as the Director General of the Bimbo Adekanmbi for Governor 2027 Campaign. To many, this is a new appointment. To those who have watched Oyo politics for four decades, it is the elevation of a master strategist whose footprints are etched across every local government in the state.

Dr. Adeniran’s political journey did not start yesterday. It began in the 1980s from the grassroots when he contested and won as a Councillor. That was where the foundation was laid, learning the language of the people, understanding ward politics, and mastering the art of mobilization. In 1998 he broke another record when he contested and won the Chairmanship seat of Ibadan South West Local Government. He served with distinction between 1999 and 2002 and remained a dominant force in the council’s politics till 2022. That is nearly a quarter of a century of grassroots relevance. Sources close to the family disclosed that he honed his political skills from his father, Alhaji Rasaq Adeniran, a nonagenarian and veteran politician who once occupied a seat in the Oyo State House of Assembly. Growing up in a progressive political family, Dr. Adeniran won the hearts of the people early and developed a deep understanding of the terrain of both Oyo State politics and national politics.

Described by associates as “a walking encyclopedia” and “a mobile repository of knowledge,” his appointment is seen as strategic for the Adekanmbi 2027 project. The campaign needed a general who understands elections, who has managed campaigns, who has delivered results as State Returning Officer twice, and who knows the political terrain of all 33 local governments like the back of his hand. In the coming months, Oyo people will see what capacity looks like in motion. They will see structure meet strategy and experience meet vision. When Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran leads a campaign, it is not just about winning. It is about winning well, winning wide, and winning with structure.

Dr. Adeniran’s quest for further education led him back to school where he studied Law. He bagged an LLB from the University of Ibadan with Second Class Upper Division and thereafter proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, where he passed the Bar Final Examination and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2008. At the popular Asa compound in Ibadan South West Local Government Area, he is regarded as “afuni mo wobe,” from where he continues to demonstrate passion for community development, including the construction of a Police Post at Owode, Apata.

Beyond the grassroots, Dr. Adeniran has an extensive record of public service. He was Executive Chairman of Ibadan South West Local Government between 1999 and 2002, and later served as Member of the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital Management Board. He was Commissioner for Industry, Applied Science and Technology between June 2009 and November 2010, and also supervised the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology between 2010 and 2011 under the administration of the late Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala. He served on several federal boards including the Governing Council of the National Teachers Institute and the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria between 2010 and 2011, and was a member of the National Implementation Committee on Almajiri Education in Nigeria within the same period. He was also a member of the 10-year Universal Basic Education Road Map Committee in Nigeria from 2021 to 2030, representing the South West.

In the political arena, Dr. Adeniran served as Presidential Campaign Coordinator for the PDP in Oyo State ahead of the 2019 Presidential Election and was a member of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council. He was Secretary of the Oyo State PDP Governorship Campaign Council for Seyi Makinde in 2019 and later Deputy Director-General of Governor Makinde’s Campaign Council in 2023. He also served as State Collation Agent for the PDP in the 2019 and 2023 governorship elections which the party won.

In June 2019, he was appointed Executive Chairman of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board by Governor Seyi Makinde. His leadership qualities earned him a unanimous vote by his colleagues to lead the South-West caucus of SUBEB Chairmen between 2019 and 2023. Following an outstanding performance, he was reappointed for a second term and was subsequently appointed Secretary of the National Forum of SUBEB Chairmen.

Dr. Adeniran is a certified member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, and the Nigerian National Council of Adult Education. He has attended international conferences in Cape Town, Chengdu, Accra, Kigali, Oxford, and London between 2000 and 2025. He is a recipient of several awards, including the Most Distinguished Ibadan Indigene conferred on him by the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes. With close working relationships with virtually all the governors who have ruled Oyo State, from the late Chief Bola Ige, the late Alhaji Lam Adesina, the late Otunba Alao-Akala, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, to the present Governor Seyi Makinde, Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran brings unmatched institutional knowledge to the 2027 project. As the campaign for Agodi Government House gathers momentum, it is clear that with him at the helm, the Adekanmbi campaign is positioned to set a new standard.

Bashorun Industreet Saintabey is a socio – philosopher, author, reformer, coach and public policy expert, a seasoned academia who loves to write about social related and contemporary issues.