Oyebamiji pledges to reset Osun’s economy

Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Osun’s August 15 election, on Friday unveiled a seven-point manifesto he called a “pact” with the people, vowing to tackle joblessness, revive infrastructure, and overhaul healthcare, education, and agriculture.

Speaking at the launch in Osogbo, Oyebamiji, widely known as AMBO, said his administration would return the state “to the path of growth, prosperity and abundance” through a blueprint branded P-R-O-S-P-E-R.

“We are prepared to run a government defined by accountability and citizen-focused policies,” Oyebamiji told a hall of party leaders, labour representatives, business owners, and community heads.

The APC flagbearer said his government would prioritise poverty reduction, workers’ welfare, job creation, security, and infrastructure renewal.

Key economic targets include reviving the Dagbolu Dry Port, developing the Ido-Osun Aviation City, and expanding investment in small businesses, industrial parks, and the Osun Free Trade Zone.

For healthcare, Oyebamiji pledged mass recruitment of medical personnel, upgrades to primary health centres, and wider access to affordable care. In education, he promised modern learning infrastructure, new teacher hires, and vocational training tied to market needs.

On agriculture, his plan lists agro-industrial clusters, modern farm settlements, and easier access to credit, technology, and land for agribusiness. “We will harness agriculture not just for food security, but as a major driver of economic growth,” he said.

The manifesto lands amid mounting criticism of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration over service delivery in the same sectors.

In healthcare, reports show severe staffing gaps. Data cited by stakeholders indicate 44% of primary health centres in Osun operate without a single health worker, while 73% have zero to one worker. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency recommends a minimum of 10 workers per PHC, including doctors, nurses, and lab technicians.

Beyond staffing, many PHCs lack clean water, functional toilets, and basic hygiene materials. In some facilities, staff and patients rely on well water for deliveries and sterilisation, raising infection risks. Experts warn the shortages have forced centres to run part-time or shut down, cutting access to prenatal and maternal care.

Budget analysis also shows Osun’s health spending remains below the 15% benchmark set by the Abuja Declaration. Critics say without major capital injection, maternal mortality and other health indices will be hard to reverse.

Education faces similar strain. Despite historically high enrolment, public schools report pupil-to-teacher ratios above 50:1 in parts of the state, hurting learning outcomes. UNESCO estimates Nigeria has over 10 million out-of-school children, and concerns persist in Osun over infrastructure decay and weak technical training.

Agriculture, once the state’s economic mainstay, is hampered by low yields and poor market access. Smallholder farmers, over 70% of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce, struggle with credit, mechanisation, and post-harvest losses estimated at 30-40% annually by the National Bureau of Statistics. Analysts say slow policy execution has kept Osun from maximizing its cocoa and cassava potential.

With over 4 million residents and a largely agrarian base, Osun faces fiscal pressure, unemployment, and infrastructure gaps common across Nigerian states.

The August contest is shaping into a referendum on governance outcomes, not just party lines. For many voters, the question is whether the next government can convert federal allocations into tangible gains.

“As the campaign season gathers momentum, Oyebamiji’s ‘Pact’ reframes the election as a defining moment for Osun’s future,” one analyst at the launch noted. “At stake are classrooms, clinics, farms, and the direction of an economy searching for stability.”

Critics of the Adeleke administration argue that the pace and depth of reforms have not matched the state’s needs. Oyebamiji’s team is pitching his public and private sector experience as a technocratic alternative, promising accountability and structured delivery.

Ultimately, the 2026 race is being framed as a bid to end “lacklustre performance, misplaced priorities and restore lost confidence in the machinery of governance,” according to party officials at the event.