BCOS INTERVIEW: Gov Makinde Has Simplified Youth Participation in Politics — Oyo Agency for Youth Chairman, Falana

The Chairman of the Oyo State Agency for Youth Development, Hon. Adebowale Adebayo Falana, has commended His Excellency Engr ‘Seyi Makinde for creating an enabling environment that encourages greater youth participation in the political space.

Speaking during an interview on the BCOS Television programme tagged Lotun-Lotun on Thursday, Falana noted that the current administration has not only prioritized youth inclusion in governance but has also dismantled long-standing barriers that previously discouraged young people from engaging in politics.

“Before now, politics seemed like a closed circle reserved for a privileged few. But under Governor Makinde, the narrative has changed. Youths are now more empowered, involved, and given the platform to lead,” Falana stated.

He highlighted key initiatives by the Makinde-led administration, including youth empowerment, recruitment into the Civil Service Commission, government parastatals, Entrepreneurship, vocational training skills, appointments of young professionals into strategic positions, and the implementation of inclusive policies that reflect the voice of the younger generation.

According to Falana, such deliberate actions have demystified political leadership and motivated many young people in the state to pursue roles in public service.

He added that the governor’s open-door policy and emphasis on merit-based appointments inspire confidence among the youth, encouraging them to take ownership of the state’s development trajectory.

“This is a model for other states to emulate,” Falana remarked.

“When young people see that they have a seat at the table, they become more invested in the political process and more committed to societal progress.”

When asked about the Rural Youth and the city what’s the connectivity and unity?

When I assumed office as the Chairman of the Oyo State Agency for Youth Development, unity of purpose that brought development through sacrifice, self-help, and ensured the total development reached the rural community.

Elder politics and Youth involvement, what’s the connectivity? What we’ve been doing as youth is connecting with each other in unity of purpose and throwing away politics of destroying, Violence, and unrest.

Now in Pacesetter State, the union under the Park Management System (PMS) is peaceful and honorable in ensuring all-around development, unlike before the administration of His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde.

When asked, those youth positions have limitations? No, our aim is to occupy the position of our Elders, like the way His Excellency Engr. Seyi Makinde is transforming Oyo State.

We are aiming that His Excellency’s successor should be a Youth to continue his sustainable development legacy based on Science, Logic, and data.

When asked about the connectivity between politics in Nigerian politics and European politics, what’s the connectivity? We may not be able to reach their level now, but we aimed that with youth involved in Nigerian Politics, where strategic appointments were given, we’ll meet them and extend far beyond.

Adebowale further said, look at Oyo State, all position were occupied by the Youth. Engr. Seyi Makinde keyed into the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Law, thereby providing unexpected opportunities for the youth in Pacesetter positions like Youngest Commissioner, Youngest State House of Assembly Member, Youngest Speaker of the House, Special Advisers, Board Chairmen, and Director-Generals, local government Chairmen, and a series of others.

If a better opportunity is given to us to perform, surely we’ll triumph in the politics of development, unity, and Progress.

Anchor; Looking at the elders, the way their Politics was played, did youth have the foresight in playing the politics of Progress?

Our innovative idea as youth is good governance, adding value to our Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, on his existing politics of Progress.

Engr Seyi Makinde has given us an excerpt of what ought to be: governance of development, unity of purpose, education as a powerful weapon to change the world, youth energy, and a series of others.

What are your key achievements as the Agency for Youth Development Chairman?

Here, the agency has lacked a chairman for almost 11 years, and then we came in and began to normalize things.

We write His Excellency on the shortage of Staff, where Engr. Seyi Makinde approved the recruitment of 85 staff.

The development of youth is progressing through the associations that are under the agency, with almost 260. We engage them through empowerment in digital skills, web development, digital marketing, leveraging artificial intelligence with Amazon Kindle publishing last year, on October 2nd and 3rd.

Today, 1, 212 youth in Oyo State can develop websites on their own without coding.

Also, we have professional youth in entrepreneurs and empowerment in turning waste to wealth, like D’erayo, Joke Lasisi (the CEO of Planet 3R), where youth across the 33 local governments in Pacesetter State train in different skills acquisition and entrepreneurship.

We also partner with the federal government through Small and Medium-sized enterprises MSMEs by connecting with the entrepreneur and the industry.

“Right now, we’re registering a POS Machine with soft loans for the youth with enterprises that registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in partnership with First City Monument Bank FCMB. The first phase was done last week, while the other phases are coming up soon.

Also, we aim to do a pitching programme in October this year, for the young entrepreneurs, to provide them with the necessary equipment and give them their first offices.

Anchor: On the issue of money politics, is it true that there’s money in Politics?

No, nothing like that, in Politics you’re serving people, my home still remains Apete till date. I didn’t change my residence, nothing like huge money in politics, our focus is total development of our community, State, and nation.

Anchor: What are your challenges in the Agency for Youth Development?

All our obstacles have been solved by His Excellency, Engr ‘Seyi Makinde through his Policy.

I couldn’t have been in Political positions earlier than, but Engr. Seyi Makinde gave us a great platform to exhibit our talents and foresight as Youth.

He urged the youth to remove the spirit of entitlement in their dealing while urging the youth to register for the ongoing INEC continuous voter registration for their permanent voters’ card

In conclusion, Falana admonished the youth to take advantage of the opportunity by actively engaging in political discourse, community development, and leadership training, stressing that political participation goes beyond elections and requires continuous involvement in policy-making and governance.

E-Signed:
Opeyemi Rasheed Socrates,
Head of the Media Unit to the Chairman, Oyo State Agency for Youth Development.