Felix Boluwatife Ayoola’s Manifesto for 2023 Oyo State Gubernatorial Election.
By: Felix Ayoola
Tags: Services, Politics, Technology, Infrastructure, Nigerian Politics

Felix Boluwatife Ayoola’s Manifesto for 2023 Oyo State Gubernatorial Election.

We’ve all looked forward to this year for a reason. I understand that you see this year as one of hope, one in which you have the power to reset the way in which our state is run. We hold this hope because we believe in a better state, that beyond bitterness and resentment we see love, that beyond hardship we see ease, that beyond poverty we see prosperity, beyond underemployment and unemployment, we see gainful work, that beyond challenges, we see opportunities, that beyond danger, we see security and safety, beyond our broken society, we see a state of perfection, beyond a state that is cruel to it citizens, we choose to see a state, where the citizens benefit and grow in health and wealth, reaching out to build the state that we dream of, one which will be made possible by our spirit of togetherness, one which we will build - a more heavenly state.

This is the state that we are building today, we start the construction not with cement made of limestone, but with bricks and cement of hope and courage, the courage to rise up and build that which has only been a dream, that which seem far away, we start with this idea of a perfect state, and with work and spirit of unity, we are going to build that which we dare to imagine into reality for that say “our imagination has a way of shaping our reality”.

First, I’d like to tell you about my journey. I was born in a small town called Igangan, in Ibarapa North Local Government of this beloved Oyo state. Like some of you, my parents sent me to Lagos for school. Throughout the 15years of studying in Lagos, I spent most of my holiday in my hometown here in Oyo state, I’ve visited Ibadan for weddings a couple of times, I’ve stayed in Ogbomosho for a while especially the Lautech area. Throughout my journey in this state, I’ve made friends, some of which are very dear to my heart, I’ve been to farm with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles on the maternal and paternal side, I’ve had the honor of working with the student community and participating in their events not just as a spectator but sometimes as a moderator or even the pronouncer at secondary school spelling bees.

During those years, I’ve been privileged during my junior secondary school to serve as class captain when I was in JSS 2 and also as the Head Boy in JSS 3 where I was able to keep the peace and foster a good teacher to student relationship, it was during this times that I understood that leadership isn’t just about power but about service and moving forward from these positions, I was able to use those lessons that I had learned to become a better leader when I had the privilege again to be in charge of the chemistry laboratory during my SS 1 day, I made sure to maintain cleanliness and orderliness in the laboratory after which I had the honor of serving as the first-ever computer laboratory prefect in my school, a position that has taught me lessons, as a computer laboratory prefect, there was no predecessor to look up to, during this time the computer Laboratory underwent some upgrade, I was able to manage and teach students computer literacy even as a student so much so that students that were not from my school began to attend our school computer training. After this, I’ve been privileged to hold different positions in my student tech communities including but not limited to StartUp Grind Ife, Python Ife, Data Science Ife, Data Science Osogbo.

It was in this state that I really understood heartbreak when farmers plant crops with hope and cattle enter into their farms to eat their farm produce and even after they would be able to get justice from the police. I witnessed one that involved my mother when a certain immigrant stole Elubo from my mother’s Apata and my mother still had to pay when the matter got to the police station. I’ve seen my uncles cry after investing money into his farm and cattle eat it up without hope of justice. I’ve seen a regime that didn’t pay my father’s salary for up to six months and still asked public school students to pay school fees, I’ve seen a regime when an Honourable bought poverty alleviation materials but refused to share it until it was time for his next election all of these in our Oyo state. But as I said before, today we begin to build the state that we want with actions that put us as citizens first.

We’ve seen how our civil servants are underpaid even when compared to workers in other states even though they put in the same effort. We’ve seen how friends and family have died due to a lack of health amenities. We’ve seen how our women are being violated and hurt yet their abusers are not being brought to justice. We’ve experienced Police brutality and some of our brothers have fallen victim to the SARS and some even killed without a proper trial just because they didn’t have money to give to these corrupt officers. We’ve seen how our commercial drivers are being extorted by lazy people all in the name of “union”. We’ve experienced how we contribute a lot to the Cocoa product yet we have to pay a lot of money to buy Cocoa beverages. We’ve seen how many friends die on a hospital bed all because they couldn’t get a police report in time or even due to a lack of health insurance. We’ve seen friends and families go out and never return because of kidnapping. We’ve seen the rate at which our youth, which is the hope of tomorrow, gets pregnant at a young age and gives up on education to be relegated to housewives and conductors in buses. We’ve seen and we are tired of seeing these things.

Let us be the generation that says no to lack of health amenities by building more hospitals and reducing the doctor to patient ratio. Let’s fund health projects and employ only competent health practitioners. Let us build hospitals and equip them with state of the art equipment. Let us make sure no one dies due to a lack of a police report by working together with hospitals and the police towards digitizing and automating the process of obtaining a police report. Let us make sure no one dies because they were left unattended due to a lack of funds by creating affordable health care and fostering health insurance culture.

Let us be the generation that says no to Police brutality. Let us create a society where we won’t be afraid of police by doing a psychological evaluation of officers and creating a swift and immediate system of punishment for officers that abused their power. Let us keep these officers in check by creating committees that consist of citizens in order to keep them in check. Let us make sure that no one dies from police brutality by creating guidelines and punishment for the unnecessary discharge of a weapon.

Let’s be the generation that eradicates unemployment. Let us create a system that encourages human capital by making sure that the educational curriculum is revised and archaic subjects are gotten rid of and skills such as coding and other in-demand skills are taught schools. Let us close the gap of employability by creating a system of education that emphasizes practicals over theory and introduces students to the industrial experience by creating paid internships and graduate trainee programs with industries.

Let’s be the generation that encourages commerce by making policies that encourage industries, by laying broadband cables, encouraging research in renewable energy, and building hubs in preparation to join the world in the 4th industrial revolution. Let us encourage people to do business by reducing logistics costs and removing police bribery from the road.

Let us be the generation that pays our civil servants well for their efforts and help them create insurance and pension systems that take care of their family even when they’ve gone.

Let us be the generation that ends gender based violence by protecting our women and children, by creating laws that protects them, by creating laws that even the police who until now have been harassing our sisters can't escape, by creating a system in which gender based violence victims can come forward without fear of retribution in order to make sure that their abusers are arrested and persecuted. Let us further prevent gender based violence by seeing of females as more than sex objects but as humans, with equal rights in the society. Let us protect them by creating sex offenders list that is properly regulated.

Let us be the generation that eradicates illiteracy by creating affordable education, making sure that no child is out of school, and creating adult classes so that every one of us will be able to compete at the world level.

With all these that I’ve listed, I’m declaring my candidacy for the next Oyo state gubernatorial election. I seek not to hijack power as many that have come before I have done but rather that you allow me to be your servant in building this state to the state of our dreams. I hope you find it in yourself to see that we have a common goal which is to build this state to glory. I’m Felix Boluwatife Ayoola.