By Olajide Hamzat
Recently, when Amofin Beulah Adeoye appeared on Edmund Obilo’s State Affairs program, he had no clue that one of his insightful remarks would spark a heartwarming conversations, and resonate with the people. Hours after the chitchat with ace broadcaster and the interview clip finds it ways to the internet, it started to make waves while positioning the legal luminary as an articulate, eloquent, and passionate leader. In the clip, Amofin Adeoye brilliantly and beautifully sums up the economic opportunities and possibilities of the pace-setter state, one that can truly unlock the state’s potential.
Walking the listeners through the curves and contours of the state, Amofin Beulah left an indelible mark in the hearts and minds of the listeners with his supremely profound thoughts and exciting experiences. While speaking, Amofin Adeoye asserted that a Circular Rail connecting up to 29 agrarian local governments has the chance to advance the economic growth and development of the state in a historic and epoch-making way.
By investing in the comparative advantage of each local government, Amofin Adeoye noted that jobs will be created, opportunities will flow like rivers and prosperity will become a household thing. He contended that Oyo State has what it takes be the Singapore of Nigeria. Speaking of Singapore, once a landlocked country and ruled by the visionary Lee Kwan Yew for many decades, Amofin Beulah Adeoye demonstrated his depth of knowledge, experience and exposure not just about the nuances and subtleties of local politics, policy and governance structure in Nigeria but across the world.
In his autobiography entitled Singapore: From Third world country to first world country, emeritus Prime Minister, Lee Kwan Yee wrote that the challenges of survival after Singapore was expelled by the Malaysian Federation in the 1960s propelled and fueled the astronomic rise of the country. In the book, Yee remarked that leading such a fragile and volatile country with no notable economic advantage turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In other words, the Singapore story left much of the developing countries in awe of what was possible and plausible in quest for growth that lift people from poverty to prosperity. For a country that was barely surviving to one that sits atop Human Capital Development Index and ease of doing business was exceptionally magical.
By the time Yee retired as the Prime Minister, he had moved Singapore from the country on the tableau of ruins to one on sustainable path. Today, Singapore is a testament to the vision of its leaders and resilience of its citizens. Alluding to the success story of Singapore gave Amofin Beulah Adeoye away as a global leader who is aware and ready to infuse incredible ideas that have worked elsewhere to advance the collective interests of the pace setter state. But, Amofin Adeoye is also a budding local mobilizer and strategist. He has spent roughly a decade studying the economic and political dynamics of Oyo State.
With focused attention, he can itemize each local government with their comparative advantage in agriculture, mineral resources without batting an eyelid. He knows where shoe pinches and has for instance, through his philanthropic interventions and contributions built a system, model and structure that has delivered result across board. That thought provoking and breathtaking interview more than opened the eyes to what he could do in a larger scale of governance.
Olajide Hamzat writes about the various prospect and potential of Oyo state while projecting Amofin Beulah Adeoye as a solution provider, problem solver and creative, adaptive and innovative leader and thinker with compassion and empathy.