While fielding questions on ‘Meet the Oyo State Youth Parliamentarians’ panel session segment of a Youth focused event yesterday thursday 21st of December, 2023 at Ogbomoso township, members of the Oyo State Youth Parliament (2nd Assembly) led by the Hon. Isaac Akinola Adebayo who is the member representing Ogbomoso South doubled as the ogbomoso caucus chairman has tasked the Youths of ogbomosoland on staying committed to capacity building and learning processes without compromising their original goals.
The young and vibrant parliamentarian took turns making this call while narrating their experiences, fulfillments and challenges at the learning-driven Oyo State Youth Parliament. They compared the Parliament to the likes of football academies and other colleges of learning where there’s no particular remuneration framework in place to service the rigorous and regimented activities of the parliamentarian.
They took turns laying emphasis on the fact that the activities of the State Youth Parliament is actually on ‘pro bono’ – which is a short form of a Latin phrase ‘pro bono publico’, which means “for the public good.” Pro bono work involves providing free services, rather than cash or goods. Meanwhile, the activities of the Youth Parliament is more of capacity buildings to services.
The Youth parliamentarian also with their Chairman at the event includes; Hons: Timothy Oyebamiji WHYTE, Faozy Obidiran Gazaly and Joshua Ojo J’Icon who are members representing Ogooluwa/Surulere, Ibadan Ibadan South West 1 and Oriire State constituencies at the Parliament, relaying goodwill messages from the Speaker of the House – Rt. Hon. Israel Fawole of Ibadan South East I State constituency who was out of the Country as at the time.
Before leaving the ‘Isale-general’ venue of the ‘Ajilete Youth Summit’ titled ‘Empowering Ogbomoso Youths for Effective Governance: from participation to power’ charged, the parliamentarians were able to exhaustively prepare the minds of the aspiring parliamentarians and other youths for capacity development initiatives, purposely to tackle the menace of quality and experienced leadership vacuum occasioned by clueless political leadership emergences rather than expecting monetary aggrandizement which is not even available at the State Youth Parliament.
Oyo State Youth Parliament is a Government-structured and inaugurated non-political Youth Assembly from all the 32 State Constituencies of the Oyo State under the tutelage of the Oyo State House of Assembly (OYHA), directly under the Oyo State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, a non-partisan umbrella body for the State Youths created in Compliance with the United Nation Charter on Youths Development as a platform through which youth voices could be heard on government policies that affects them directly.
Dignitaries at the event includes: Hon. Alao-Akala Ayodeji Olamijuwonlo – member representing Ogbomoso North/Ogbomoso South/ Oriire federal constituency at the National Assembly ably represented by his Legislative Assistant, Professor Raphael Afonja – the immediate past State Commissioner for Public works and Transport, Mr. Akinola Olatunde Joseph – CEO Igbalaolu Mobile hub and Mrs. Olamide Alabi – CEO Umera farms among others.
