In the political conversation ahead of the 2027 Ogun State governorship election, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as YAYI, has placed one idea at the centre of his development agenda for the Gateway State: continuity.
Adeola, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, unveiled his nine-pillar development framework, tagged “ITESIWAJU for Ogun State,” during a meeting with members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Abeokuta on 21 September 2026.
He argued that development should not be interrupted simply because political leadership changes. Viable projects and policies should instead be assessed on their usefulness to citizens, completed where necessary, improved where required, and complemented with new initiatives.
The ITESIWAJU agenda covers Infrastructure; Tourism and Culture; Economic Empowerment; Security and Welfare; Inclusive Growth and Well-being; Women, Youth and Poverty Eradication; Agriculture and Food Security; Job Creation and Industrialisation; and Urbanisation and Transparency.
The word Itesiwaju is commonly associated with progress or moving forward. For Adeola, it has become the organising principle of a proposed administration that would seek to build on existing foundations rather than begin governance from scratch. This is a significant and welcome development, consistent with the wise counsel against the futility of discarding the achievements of preceding administrations.
*Infrastructure: Connecting Communities to Opportunity*
Infrastructure is one of the principal pillars of the ITESIWAJU framework. For a state with major industrial corridors, expanding urban centres and a large agricultural base, roads, transport networks and other infrastructure have direct implications for commerce, mobility and access to services.
Adeola has specifically argued that viable projects inherited from the present administration should not be abandoned merely because they were initiated by another government. Projects should instead be judged by their benefits to the people. The continuity principle therefore emphasises completing useful projects while identifying gaps that require new investment.
*Tourism and Culture: Turning Heritage into Opportunity*
Ogun’s cultural identity provides another area of potential development. The state has a rich heritage of festivals, traditional institutions, historical personalities, creative expression and tourist attractions. ITESIWAJU’s inclusion of tourism and culture places these assets within the proposed economic-development conversation.
The challenge is to move beyond occasional celebration towards a more structured tourism ecosystem involving hospitality, transportation, entertainment, artisanship, creative industries and local enterprise. If properly developed, cultural assets can serve both as expressions of identity and as platforms for economic activity.
For young people in particular, the creative economy offers opportunities that extend beyond conventional employment—from entertainment and digital content to fashion, crafts, hospitality and cultural documentation.
Economic Empowerment: From Assistance to Productivity
Economic empowerment is the “E” in the publicly unveiled ITESIWAJU framework. Its significance lies in the question of how government can help residents participate more productively in the economy.
Small businesses, traders, artisans, professionals and entrepreneurs require more than ceremonial support. They need access to finance, infrastructure, markets, skills and an enabling regulatory environment. The campaign’s broader agenda identifies economic empowerment alongside industrialisation, agriculture and job creation, reflecting an approach in which employment and enterprise development are treated as interconnected rather than isolated sectors.
Security and Welfare: Development Needs a Safe Environment
Security and welfare constitute another pillar of ITESIWAJU. Economic activity depends on a stable environment. Farmers need to reach their farms, businesses need to operate, workers need to commute, and families need to go about their daily activities without fear.
Security policy therefore has implications beyond conventional law enforcement. For Ogun, the challenge includes protecting communities, supporting economic corridors and responding to security concerns that may affect farming, commerce and industrial investment. The inclusion of welfare alongside security also reflects the wider argument that public safety should ultimately serve human well-being.
*Inclusive Growth and Well-being*
The second “I” in ITESIWAJU focuses on inclusive growth and well-being. The concept places the citizen at the centre of development. Economic expansion, infrastructure and investment ultimately acquire meaning when they improve living conditions and broaden access to opportunity.
Healthcare, social protection, human development and access to essential services are therefore part of the wider development equation. The policy question is not simply whether Ogun’s economy grows, but how widely the benefits of that growth are distributed. That makes inclusion an important consideration in evaluating any long-term development programme.
*Women, Youth and Poverty Eradication*
Ogun’s young population and the economic contributions of women make this another significant component of the proposed agenda. The ITESIWAJU framework places women, youth and poverty eradication together, reflecting the need to connect empowerment with sustainable economic participation.
Sustainable poverty reduction requires pathways into productive activity—education, skills acquisition, access to finance, entrepreneurship, employment and markets. For young people, this means creating conditions in which skills can translate into livelihoods. For women, it means improving access to economic opportunities and removing barriers that limit participation in productive sectors.
The effectiveness of this pillar would ultimately depend on whether programmes produce measurable and sustained outcomes rather than short-term interventions.
*Agriculture and Food Security: Building the Value Chain*
Agriculture occupies another central position in the ITESIWAJU framework. For Ogun, agricultural development has implications for food supply, rural livelihoods, agro-processing and employment.
The opportunity lies in looking at agriculture as a value chain rather than simply as farming: production → harvesting → processing → packaging → transportation → marketing → export. When these stages are connected, agricultural activity can generate opportunities beyond the farm.
Farmers need markets. Processors need raw materials. Manufacturers need supply chains. Transporters need products to move. Consumers need affordable food. Agriculture and industrialisation can therefore reinforce each other.
*Job Creation and Industrialisation: Connecting Growth to Livelihoods*
Job creation and industrialisation form the “J” in ITESIWAJU. Ogun’s industrial profile provides a foundation for this conversation, but industrialisation is not measured only by the number of factories established.
An industrial ecosystem also creates opportunities for suppliers, transporters, technicians, engineers, artisans, accountants, technology providers, security personnel and other service businesses. The challenge for policy is therefore to connect major investments to local economic participation.
A factory can generate direct employment, but its wider supply chain can potentially support many additional livelihoods. The ITESIWAJU proposition consequently links industrialisation with employment, enterprise development and economic empowerment.
*Urbanisation and Transparency: Planning for the Future*
The final pillar is urbanisation and transparency. Ogun’s continuing urban growth makes physical planning increasingly important. Housing, roads, drainage, transportation, waste management, land use and public infrastructure all become more complicated as communities expand.
Growth without effective planning can create congestion and put pressure on public services. Urban development must therefore consider not only the needs of today’s population but also the communities that will emerge in the future.
The addition of transparency introduces another dimension: how government decisions, projects and public resources are communicated and accounted for. A development programme requires public confidence, and confidence is strengthened when citizens can see what government plans to do, what has been done, and how resources are being deployed.
*ITESIWAJU and the Continuity Question*
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Adeola’s agenda is its emphasis on continuity. At the IPAC meeting, he cited Lagos as an example of successive administrations building on earlier policies and projects. He argued that Ogun could benefit from a similar approach and said viable projects inherited from the current administration would be continued if he is elected.
The argument does not necessarily mean that every existing policy or project should automatically continue. Rather, the principle presented by Adeola is that projects should be evaluated on their usefulness and potential value to residents rather than discarded because of their political origin.
That raises important questions for the 2027 debate:
Which projects are viable?
Which require modification?
Which have failed to deliver expected results?
What should be completed?
What should be discontinued?
And where should a new administration introduce entirely new policies?
These are ultimately questions that require evidence, public scrutiny and measurable targets.
*From Foundation to the Next Chapter*
Every administration inherits something from its predecessor. It also leaves something for the administration that follows. That is the central philosophy behind the ITESIWAJU proposition.
Adeola has said the agenda was developed through consultations and that work on the document extended over about three years. He has presented it as a framework intended to address Ogun’s development needs across sectors rather than simply as an electoral document.
*Mikail Adegoke Mumuni is a Member of the Media and Publicity Committee of the Ogun APC Campaign Council.
