Since I assumed the responsibility of leading the Odidiomo Campaign Organisation, I have worked closely with Hon. Adedeji Dhikrullahi Olajide Odidiomo. That experience has given me a closer understanding of the politician behind the name and, more importantly, the ideas and convictions driving his aspiration to represent Oyo South in the Senate. I have seen a politician who places considerable value on achievement, visible impact and direct engagement with the people. It is this experience that has strengthened my conviction that the Odidiomo name is increasingly becoming associated with a simple political proposition that representation should be measured by what it delivers to the people.
What particularly stands out to me is the clarity with which he approaches public service. For Odidiomo, politics is not merely about occupying an office; it is about using public office to create opportunities, solve problems and leave behind a record that can be examined. His legislative work has placed considerable emphasis on information and communication technology, digital transformation, youth empowerment, education and human capital development. His role as Chairman of the House Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity has further positioned technology at the centre of his legislative identity. That orientation is also reflected in constituency interventions and programmes, including a digital training and empowerment programme reported to have reached 200 youths and women. It is this combination of legislation, technology and grassroots intervention that, in my view, gives substance to the political identity he is taking into the larger Oyo south senatorial district. That experience is now being translated into a broader development conversation across the nine local government areas making up Oyo south.
In recent engagements, Odidiomo unveiled what he described as a “social pact” covering education and skills, agriculture, healthcare, technology, employment and infrastructure. His proposals include an ICT hub in each of the nine local government areas, an agriculture empowerment and value chain programme for Ibarapa, a proposed Federal Medical Centre for Oyo South and the “Light Up Oyo South” initiative, under which he has pledged 100 streetlight poles in each of the district’s 99 wards, a total of 9,900 poles.
These are ambitious proposals, and they require more than campaign declarations; they require legislative advocacy, partnerships, sustained engagement and the capacity to follow through. That is why I see the present political movement as a conversation about how the experience accumulated in public office can be expanded into a sustainable programme of representation for the people of Oyo south senatorial district.
Odidiomo has placed his experience and proposed agenda before the district. Let the people examine the work already done, consider the plans now being proposed and make their own judgment about the kind of representation they want for Oyo South Senatorial District.
