- Olowo of Owo Kingdom, His Royal Highness, Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye 11
The Olowo of Owo Kingdom, His Royal Highness, Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye 11, has commended President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Dr. Charles Akinola as managing director of the South West Development Commission (SWDC).
A seasoned public policy advisor and development strategist, Akinola has over 30 years of experience in public service, international development, and strategic governance. He specialises in agricultural development, sustainable economic growth, and policy implementation across Nigeria and West Africa.
Reacting to Akinola’s appointment, Oba Ogunoye described it as putting a square peg in a square hole, stating that he will facilitate social and economic development in the South West region. He remarked that Akinola’s training, political experience and exposure will help him succeed on the job.
According to the monarch, the appointment is in the right direction, as Akinola “is eminently qualified. Going by his experiences over the years, his training and political experiences, I believe it is gratifying that such a wonderful personality has been found worthy of appointment as the MD of SWDC.
Describing Akinola as a man of good character and learning, and a man who is out to work for the good of the Yoruba, the monarch said he believes the new MD will serve Yoruba land. According to him, “this is a call to service and I know he will give selfless service for the benefit of the people. I know for sure that he will use his political connections for our benefit.”
Meanwhile, Oba Olowo, who chronicled Akinola’s early days in the kingdom of Owo, said the principle of Omoluabi that he has imbibed during his formative age would help put him on a trajectory of growth and development of the region.
According to him, “he has a great connection with this great Kingdom of Owo. His early years were in Owo. So, I believe he had imbibed our character and must have had it going him for the task ahead. The good people of Yoruba will expect much more deliverables from the SWDC as recently passed into law by Mr. President.
“We appreciate Mr. President for finding this wonderful personality to be charged with these moral roles and highly demanding office.”
He further however Akinola to ensure the security of lives, property; adding that agriculture, employment and skill acquisition for youths should be his priority.
“The younger ones, educated and non-educated, who are not gainfully employed, should be provided with skills and training. There must be training of our youths in skilled labour such as carpentry, and revitalisation of technical colleges for the training of our youths rather than having university graduates without skills, thereby increasing unemployment rate.
“State police is coming up now, as has been generally accepted throughout Nigeria. So, the commission should be at the forefront of the training of personnel and equipment for the policing system that will cover Yoruba land, either collectively as a civil unit of policing authority in the southwest or on the individual basis of states.”
He urged the commission to network across the entire Yoruba land and ensure that the region’s policing system is top-notch and well-equipped with modern facilities, especially using Information Communication Technology to secure the region.
On agriculture, the monarch said that value should be added to the agricultural produce, as well as the establishment of small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale industries in all agricultural produce. The commission must think about the establishment of industry clusters that will process the region’s agricultural produce.
“We have to drive our agriculture through value addition and majorly towards exports to earn foreign exchange,” Oba Ogunoye said. “I think this will go a long way in enabling the Yoruba nation to be much richer and foremost among other regions.”
