The dream of many young Nigerians is to make a good impact and contribute their quota to the development of their immediate society. For 26-year-old Adeolu Oyebode, he has just found the right channel to achieve those dreams following his recent appointment as the youngest person to hold the office of a Special Assistant to a state governor in Nigeria.
His appointment was announced last week by the office of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, giving Mr Oyebode the capacity to serve as the Special Assistant to the Ekiti State Governor on Students’ Matters.
But his appointment didn’t just come overnight, Mr Oyebode has paid his dues. He has been involved in student unionism since 2007 and served as the Chairman National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Joint Campus Committee of Ondo and Ekiti States between 2008 and 2010. The graduate of Biochemistry from the Ekiti State University is also the Country Director of Programmes and Planning of the International Youth Congress (Nigeria Charter) incorporated in the USA.
Speaking on his journey to the creation of the office of Special Assistant on Students’ Matters, Mr Oyebode said: “the Students of Ekiti State had been demanding for the office even before I was opportuned to serve them as Chairman of NANS Joint Campus Committee of Ondo and Ekiti States. I remembered that I was one of those who also clamoured for the creation of this office, so as to grant the opportunity for the voice of the students to be heard. And here we are today, it has been achieved.”
Mr Oyebode’s first personal encounter with Governor Fayemi was in 2007 at a public lecture that was held at the University of Ado Ekiti (now Ekiti State University) where human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, was given an award by the students.
“It was during the event that Dr Kayode Fayemi came in convoy of Mr Femi Falana and also to receive the platinum award on behalf of his deputy governorship candidate,” he recalled. “That was the first time I would ever have an eye-to-eye contact and talk with him, and this was before he became the Ekiti State governor.”
He described Governor Fayemi as “a mentor from afar” adding that they have both maintained a relationship with mutual regards and respect of individual values and virtues. “Dr Fayemi, as governor, hasn’t changed from his old self to the best of my knowledge; he is a person who doesn’t relate with you based on age but what you have upstairs and how you can affect the society,” he said.
Criteria for appointment
The students had an interactive parley with the governor, where they reminded him that they needed to create the office of Special Assistant on Students’ Matters. The governor asked them to present the names of three people whom they could vouch for. Mr Oyebode’s name was submitted along with two other past and present student leaders.
“I don’t know the yardstick that Mr Governor must have used to prefer me because we are all qualified based on our academic basics and experiences in students’ movement,” he said. “Three of us were nominated by the students’ body in Ekiti State, comprising of the NANS Joint Campus Committee, the Federation of Ekiti State Students’ Union (FESSU) and the Presidents of all the Students’ Unions in the 16 local governments. The nominees were Adeoye Aribasoye, Seyi Ibiloye and me.
Adeoye was the President of the EKSU Students’ Union and former President of the Faculty of Law Students of EKSU; Oluwaseyi was a former President of the Ekiti State College of Education Ikere and former Secretary of NANS Joint Campus Committee in Ekiti State; while I was simply a former Chairman of NANS Joint Campus Committee in Ondo/Ekiti States. We all passed the SSS screening and to the glory of God, we were all medically fit and intellectually balanced. The governor must have got his reasons to have preferred me.”
Call of duty
As the Special Adviser to the Ekiti State Government on Students Matters, Mr Oyebode’s primary assignment is to serve as a link between the governor and the students’ constituency. “It is also part of my duty that I should raise suggestive ideas and policies that can bring the dividends of democracy to the rank and file of Ekiti State Students,” he added.
During his tenure, he hopes to foster harmonious relationship between the government and the students’ community; restore democratically elected students’ unionism to Ekiti State University and College of Education Ikere and develop the intellectual capacity of students and students’ leaders via workshops and leadership summits.
Speaking on how his new status has affected his relationship with his peers, he said: “I am a people person. I cannot but appreciate the fact that my new status has created better opportunities for me to meet with people of my generation better than I could have reached them. I know that some might find it difficult to understand this, because there is always this kind of impression that when you are in government, people will naturally want to distance themselves from you. But for me, I have been receiving calls, text messages and emails from everyone and I’m happy about that.”
Prior to his appointment, Mr Oyebode was a practising journalist, writing for Fountain Newsbreakers, a widely circulated community paper in Ekiti State.
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