- Prince AYOADE ADEWOPO Tells City People
Renowned Global Trade and Corporate Governance Counsel, Prince Ayoade Adewopo who is the President of Johnson Adedoja Adewopo Foundation and Convener of Ayombo Revolution Movement has joined the 2018 Osun governorship race.
Ayoade Adewopo is a legal practitioner and he holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Indiana University, Indiana, a postgraduate diploma in International Tax law from Robert Kennedy College (University of Wales), Zurich-Switzerland and a Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and Management from The Polytechnic Ibadan, Nigeria.
Ayoade Adewopo was born on 20th December 1972 to Prince Johnson Adedoja Adewopo a reputable lawyer during his lifetime and a scion of the popular Ogboru Royal Family of Ile-Ife and to Princess Dorcas Adewopo (nee Laoye) a retired teacher and the first daughter of the late Timi of Ede, HRH Oba John Adetoyese Laoye. Dr. Ayoade Adewopo was born a double Prince, a true blue blood from Osun state.
Prince Adewopo is a licensed law practitioner in the USA and also as a Solicitor in England & Wales. Prince Adewopo also has the right to practice law in the European Union and Canada. He currently works as a specialist on corporate governance matters in Nigeria. Previously, Prince Adewopo worked with The Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission, as an Associate with the law firm of Ice Miller LLP, as the Senior Global Operations Counsel for The Scott’s Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) and as the Vice President & Assistant General Counsel (Americas) for Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR).
Between the years 2004 and 2006, Prince Adewopo served as Secretary, Vice President and President of the Marion County Bar Association (Indianapolis, Indiana). During the same period, he was also appointed as a Member of the Marion County Public Defender Board of Directors. He is a frequent speaker on Corporate Governance issues, Immigration law, Global Sourcing, International Trade and Global Investments based on his experience as a skilled corporate executive and attorney for foreign governments, multinationals, and fortune 500 companies.
Ayoade Adewopo has served as a precinct leader for the Obama 2008 and 2012 Presidential campaigns, as a Special Advisor and counsel to several foreign government entities and several multi-national corporations on diverse transactions, including commodity hedging, mergers, acquisitions, global or cross-border joint ventures, global security issues, global trade ethics and compliance policies. Prince Adewopo is a renowned expert in corporate governance and anti-money laundering matters and he serves as counsel to corporate and government entities on such matters.
A philanthropist of note, Prince Adewopo has been silently impacting the lives of Osun indigenes. He is the President of Johnson Adedoja Adewopo Foundation, a foundation that is currently catering to the needs of Osun State indigenes in various areas of higher education scholarships, human capital and infrastructural development projects. Ayoade Adewopo is happily married with children. Prince Ayoade Adewopo is the new opportunity Osun State cannot afford to miss. Osun 2018, Ayombo o!!! Below are the reasons he joined the Osun guber race.
“People have asked me why I am running for Osun governorship. Each time they ask I always tell them its all about service to the people. When you appreciate the fact that you are enjoying some level of grace and certain opportunities that others don’t have in a society like ours, I believe naturally, one should develop a heart of giving back to that society. My belief is that it is not anybody’s making to lack basic necessities of life. So, those who have should be able to share with others to make our society better. That’s the heart behind my aspiration.
If politics is an avenue to create a better atmosphere and an enabling environment for people to thrive, if politics is all about the people, I mean, if politics is the call to service of the people, I don’t see anything wrong in venturing into it. Unfortunately, due to situations in our polity over time, the word politics have been reduced to a sort of evil, many people tend to have lost faith in politics and politicians. However, in my opinion, we cannot continue to leave things in the hands of those that have turned politics to evil in our society.
Osun State is my heritage, before Nigeria in a nationalistic sense. Osun State, therefore, is close to my heart. Politics to me is not a game but an engagement with the people. It’s about leading the people to success and helping them to live in a better environment and condition than before. Politics is about leadership. It is poor leadership that has given politics a derisive meaning. I am passionate about my people, my community and their development. Our challenge with development is not that we don’t know that we need development. It’s always about how to bring about the development to the people, which fall squarely on leadership. I believe with my whole heart that we can do a lot better for our people in developing our society and improving the conditions of lives than we are doing.
The poverty in Osun is at a new high level due to the mismanagement of our commonwealth. We can’t continue to fold our hands as a people. The paramount mission behind my aspiration is to make Osun the model state where poverty is eradicated through human capital development, building success stories through youth empowerment and developing aggressive agricultural programs to bring about meat and milk sufficiency (food abundance). Our people yearn for a fair and just society where everyone is accorded the same opportunities to succeed, not one that provides jobs and opportunities for a few. The State of the Living Spring deserves to live again.
After several years of failed and poorly implemented policies in Osun State, I believe this is the time when it is possible for somebody like myself, with a different mindset and approach to politics to emerge as the next governor of Osun State come 2018. I believe the people of Osun are persuaded that it’s not just enough to change political parties in Bola Ige’s house, that there’s something deeper that affects us all, that our politics has gotten out of touch and out of tune with the present realities, that it is too sharply partisan, and obsessed with the perpetual campaign that is both meaningless and ineffectual as opposed to developing good governance for our people.
Our politics have become the race of and for money and power, and have dashed the hopes and the real concerns of Osun citizens. This is not the time for just politics anymore; it’s the time to herald the best practices of good governance into Osun. It’s not the time for empty promises. It’s a season for real solutions. We must restore balance between government and the private sector. We must bring development and shun rhetoric that does not solve any problems now and for the future.
When people ask me “you seem like a nice young man, you’ve done all this great work and you have a wonderful future ahead of you, why venture into something nasty like politics? Do you know how things work over here?” I understand the question and the pervasive cynicism. We all understand it because we can see that politics in this country is no longer a mission – it is a business worse than bitcoin.
However, when we look through our state and see how despondent and despaired our people are, wondering how to get their next meal, or get their children through school, provide shelter and healthcare for their family. The reality stares us in the face. One cannot but be filled with compassion. When you see our retirees wail about the non-payment of their pension and gratuities and then you turn on your TV or open the newspaper and all you see from our government is another contract scandal, or another empty argument over why salaries are paid in halves and percentages or how our education is in shambles with our kids getting poorly educated while the Government and its allies have remained persistently stubborn, arrogant and unaccountable to its own people. Our people are impoverished everyday and are only given crumbs for food and for better life. They deserve better and our resources can be managed to provide better and more at far lesser cost than been peddled by government. There’s so much poverty in our land and poverty have been made to deny our people of the power they wield. They have turned our people into helpless pawns in the political game of chess.
This is why I believe this forthcoming election in Osun should not be about who can play this game better. The stakes are too high. We need restoration. Responsibility starts now for the millions of Osun people spread across the state, the nation and the globe. It starts with everyone coming together to make a demand and not just for envelopes or anything but something better and nobler and worth living for.
People tell me I may not have spent a lot of time learning Osun politics. I promise you, I’ve been here long enough even short enough to know that government and governance of our state must change. I know that Osun people are desperately clamoring for a new dawn in their lives. They want a revived economy – an economy that will provide jobs and create wealth for them. There’s a failure of leadership in Osun. A total failure of good governance. This is the holiday season and our people are facing absolute hopelessness. Businesses are not thriving; the economy is in its worst state since our state was created.
I know our restoration is possible and is here. I know that turning the fortunes of our state is possible and it’s not a game for who’s next in line to capture our commonwealth. It is a mission for service and service only to the people.
Well, I also hear people say “he’s a newcomer and naive. He’s a peddler of hope in this crazy economic downturn. He feels he’s a super hero.” I actually agree, I’m as guilty as charged. But the so called old comers, how have they brought development to our state? I am very hopeful about the restoration and the rebirth of Osun. However, the pundits consider this a symptom of lack of experience. I have served in responsible positions in my professional career and I know it takes the power of vision and resolve to make positive impact. I’ve come to realize that to these “political” folks, only the years spent in the corridors of power waiting for your turn to feast on our commonwealth count. However, I think they are wrong; we’re witnessing the worst of economic times under some of the longest CVs in the nation.
My own experience tells me that for the forthcoming 2018 elections, real reform come when we are willing to put people’s interests before special and partisan interests. A state that cannot provide the enabling environment for businesses, job, adequate health care, education and security of its people have no reason to remain. It is still a marvel to me how can a governor of the people even gleefully go to sleep every night when his teeming workers do not receive their full wages at the end of 30 days of their labour. Where is sacrificial and compassionate leadership? Sacrificial leadership does not exist in abstract but must be demonstrated and seen in truth and indeed. Such leaders and anybody who identifies with them should be shown the way out. They do not deserve to return to government.
It is time to turn a new page on our healthcare – reviving our primary healthcare programs and bringing healthcare closer to our people. It’s time to ensure our workers, pregnant women, newborn babies and the elderly get the commensurate best of healthcare available.
It’s time to turn a new page on education – Osun needs schools and not just buildings. It’s also the time to treat our teachers right. It’s time to treat teaching like the profession it is. It is time to develop the high standards.
It’s time to turn a new page on our Agriculture. Agriculture today is an industry and Osun must engineer it’s agricultural resources into a viable industry as one of the pillars of our economy. With this, we can feed the state and make a lot of money feeding the nation, building agro-allied industries across the state and for export.
We must create industrial zones, distribution hubs, and cottage industries providing the enabling environment for manufacturing and assembling factories. Those are possibilities that take careful and strategic planning and execution with political will! It is not rocket science.
I am confident about my ability to lead Osun state, our dear State of the Living Spring. I know it is difficult to achieve this goal without the people. Therefore, our campaign is about effectively communicating and connecting with our people every day. It is about giving hope and voice to our people and letting them know their dreams will not die but can be realized.
Each day I wake up, I’m alive in this realization of great possibilities for our state. I am reminded that I’m not a perfect man. As I meet and consult with people, leaders, youth, women and every valued stakeholder in our state, my promise is that I will make my stand known on issues and I will be honest about the challenges we face. I will be accommodating and receptive to viable ideas that will work for the collective good of our state.
If we believe that it’s time to challenge the political status quo that have led us on this hopeless path and let us down; if we believe it’s time to restore a sense of mission to our politics and a sense of possibility to Osun; if we want a brand new and prosperous State, then I’m asking for your support and I ask you to believe and support this campaign.
This is my dream for our state. My resolve is to make our hope and restoration sure. We must open a new page for the restoration of Osun. The time is now to write a new chapter of Osun history. The State of Living of the Spring deserves to live again.
