The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, has promised to create over 500,000 jobs and train 100,000 youths in digital skills if elected governor in 2027.

Popularly known as Yayi, the Ogun West Senator made the pledge on Friday during a courtesy visit to the Ogun State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Iwe Iroyin Press Centre, Abeokuta.

Adeola said his administration would focus on infrastructure, industrialisation, agriculture, healthcare, education, security and institutional reforms, describing his blueprint as a covenant with the people.

“I stand before you not as a politician reciting promises, but as a son of Ogun State bringing you a covenant, a plan I intend to be held accountable to, page by page, project by project,” Adeola told journalists.

He said journalists, as custodians of public memory, should hold him to account for every promise made.

Unfolding his agenda, Adeola proposed an Ogun State Bus Mass Transit Programme on major corridors including Abeokuta, Sango-Ota and Sagamu, and collaboration with the Nigerian Railway Corporation for commuter rail linking Abeokuta to Lagos and industrial clusters.

He also proposed OgunRide, a state-backed mobility platform for commercial car, tricycle and motorcycle operators, offering health insurance, vehicle financing and cooperative support.

On youth employment, he said: “One in four of our young people between fifteen and twenty-four is unemployed. We will train 100,000 young people in digital skills by 2031 and within our first six months launch a Youth Enterprise Hub in Abeokuta with satellite hubs across the state, backed by microcredit, aiming to cut youth unemployment by 40 percent and help create over 500,000 jobs.”

The senator also promised to implement financial autonomy for the 20 local governments in line with the 2024 Supreme Court judgment, ensuring direct allocation without state interception.

Other proposals include solid minerals development company, agro-industrial parks, a State-Supported Produce Market, a 200-kilometre Coastal Energy Corridor from the Benin Republic border to Ondo State with Olokola Deep Seaport as gateway, oil exploration in Ogun Waterside and Tongeji Island, revitalisation of the Ilera D’ero health insurance scheme to enroll two million residents, education and technical training reforms, security trust fund reinforcement, cybersecurity centre, waste-to-energy plants under Clean Ogun Initiative and ending open defecation by 2031.

He further proposed a Single Window Revenue Collection System to grow internally generated revenue by 40 percent while commending the incumbent administration for revenue growth between 2021 and 2024.

Source: Punch / Global Tribune.