[EDITORIAL] Inclusive Growth: The Case For A New Direction In Osun

With less than a week to the Osun State governorship election, the state stands at an important juncture. Elections are ultimately about choices, but the most consequential choices often extend beyond personalities and political calculations to the kind of society citizens wish to build.

For Osun, the central question should therefore be: what model of governance can restore confidence, widen opportunity and place inclusive development at the heart of the state’s future?

The answer requires a careful assessment of the competing visions before the electorate.

Osun is not without examples of what purposeful public policy can achieve. The state has, at different times, experimented with interventions that sought to address unemployment, education, food security, infrastructure and social welfare. Some of these initiatives demonstrated the capacity of government to make a direct difference in citizens’ lives when policy is backed by political will and effective implementation.

The administration of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola provides one such reference point. Programmes including O’YES, O’Meal, O’REAP and O’Calisthenics sought to connect government intervention with the everyday needs of young people, pupils, farmers and families.

The important lesson is not that every policy of the past was perfect. Rather, it is that development should be cumulative. Good ideas should not necessarily disappear simply because administrations change. They should be evaluated, strengthened and adapted to meet contemporary realities.

This is where the development agenda of Najeem Folasayo Salaam, the African Democratic Congress governorship candidate, deserves attention.

His 10-point agenda, “Restoring Trust, Rebuilding Osun, Empowering the People,” attempts to combine continuity with renewal. It proposes the restoration of some social interventions while introducing new mechanisms for economic expansion, institutional accountability and human capital development.

The proposal to re-establish O’YES, with a target of 20,000 cadets within the first 100 days, is significant in a state where youth employment remains a major concern. So too is the proposed return of school feeding, alongside free basic and secondary education, expanded scholarships, skills acquisition, technical education and digital learning.

Perhaps the more interesting aspect of the Salaam proposition is its attempt to connect social intervention with productive capacity.

Its agricultural agenda goes beyond distributing inputs. It envisages Osun as a regional food hub, with farm estates in the three senatorial districts, a proposed 1,000-hectare farm estate, mechanised farming, agricultural extension services, agro-processing hubs and systems for marketing and off-taking farm produce.

That approach reflects an important principle of inclusive growth: social programmes are most sustainable when linked to opportunities for people to become economically productive.

The same thinking can be seen in proposals for technology innovation hubs, start-up funding, apprenticeship programmes, SME financing, women’s enterprise support and an improved ease of doing business environment.

There is also emphasis on infrastructure required to make economic activity possible. The manifesto proposes alternative power systems across the three senatorial districts, rural electrification, road rehabilitation and construction, rural access roads and urban renewal.

Yet development cannot be sustained without credible institutions.

Here, the proposal for a Governor’s Delivery Unit, measurable performance indicators for commissioners and heads of agencies, and quarterly public performance reports deserves particular attention. Such mechanisms, if properly implemented, could help move governance away from broad political promises towards measurable obligations to the public.

This is perhaps the most important conversation Osun should have at this point: not simply who makes the most attractive promises, but who presents the clearest framework for turning public resources into measurable improvements in people’s lives.

The state’s next administration will inherit challenges that cannot be solved through politics alone. Education requires sustained investment. Healthcare needs stronger primary care. Young people require skills and opportunities. Farmers need markets as much as they need inputs. Businesses need electricity, infrastructure and a predictable regulatory environment. Above all, citizens need to trust that government works for them.

A credible development strategy must therefore be inclusive, measurable and capable of surviving political transitions.

Salaam’s agenda offers one of the clearer attempts in this election to bring these issues together under a single framework. Its emphasis on restoring worthwhile interventions while introducing new ideas around technology, investment, accountability and institutional performance makes it worthy of serious consideration.

The people of Osun now have the responsibility to weigh the alternatives carefully.

In the final analysis, elections are not merely contests between candidates. They are choices between competing ideas about the future.

And if the future Osun seeks is one defined by inclusive growth, continuity of worthwhile programmes, accountable leadership and renewed opportunities for its people, the direction offered by Najeem Folasayo Salaam merits thoughtful and favourable consideration at the ballot.