#AyomboNiOsun2018 Basis for my Aspiration

When you appreciate the fact that you are enjoying some level of grace and certain opportunities others don't have in a society like ours, I believe naturally, one should develop a heart of giving back to that society. My belief is that it is not anybody's making to lack basic necessities of life. So, those who have should be able to share with others to make our society better. That's the heart behind my aspiration.

If politics is an avenue to create a better atmosphere and an enabling environment for people to thrive, if politics is all about the people, I mean, if politics is the call to service of the people, I don't see anything wrong in venturing into it. Unfortunately, due to situations in our polity over time, the word politics have been reduced to a sort of evil, many people tend to have lost faith in politics and politicians. However, in my opinion, we cannot continue to leave things in the hands of those that have turned politics to evil in our society.

Osun state is my heritage, before Nigeria in a nationalistic sense. Osun state, therefore, is close to my heart. Politics to me is not a game but an engagement with the people. It’s about leading the people to success and helping them to live in a better environment and condition than before.

Politics is about leadership. It is poor leadership that has given politics a derisive meaning.  I am passionate about my people, my community and their development. Our challenge with development is not that we don't know that we need development. It’s always about how to bring about the development to the people, which fall squarely on leadership. I believe with my whole heart that we can do a lot better for our people in developing our society and improving the conditions of lives than we are doing.

The poverty in Osun is at a new high level due to the mismanagement of our commonwealth. We all can’t continue to fold our hands. The paramount mission behind my aspiration is to make Osun the model state where poverty is eradicated through human capital development, building success stories through youth empowerment and developing aggressive agricultural programs to bring about meat and milk sufficiency (food abundance).

Our people yearn for a fair and just society where everyone is afforded the same opportunities to succeed, not one that provides jobs and opportunities for a few.  The State of the Living Spring deserves to live again.

*Prince Ayoade Adewopo* writes from Ile-Ife.