There are stories in public life that are not immediately visible, yet they shape everything that follows.
For many, the name Debo Akande has only recently entered public conversation. What is less known, however, is the journey that formed the discipline behind his work.
In a recent interview, Dr. Akande reflects on the path that has positioned him as a strategic voice in conversations around Oyo State.
At seventeen, he lost his father. In that moment, responsibility arrived abruptly. With limited resources, he and his elder brother made a difficult decision to step back so their younger siblings could move forward. For nearly a decade, he deferred his own tertiary education to ensure others had the opportunity to attend school first.
It was not an easy choice. But it was a defining one.
What followed was far from a straight path.
He worked. He traded, selling bread in traffic, and later became a trainee clearing agent at NAHCO. It was a period where survival demanded focus and resilience. Yet even then, there was a quiet discipline and a refusal to abandon a future still taking shape.
He continued to read, learn, and prepare.
Like many young Africans in search of opportunity, he once attempted to cross into Europe through the desert. It did not succeed. But the experience deepened his understanding of struggle, risk, and the realities faced by young people when opportunity is not structured.
After nearly nine years in this wilderness, a new path emerged.
Through persistence and support, he gained admission to study International Development in the United Kingdom, returning to formal education with clarity and purpose.
Along the way, mentorship proved important. Not only from older figures, but often from peers whose insight and guidance shaped critical decisions. This experience informed a lasting belief that mentorship is not a luxury. It is a necessity in shaping the direction of young people.
Earlier influences were equally significant.
From his father, and from his uncle who introduced him to work as a political clerk, came early exposure to grassroots realities during the era of the National Party of Nigeria and later the Social Democratic Party. These experiences shaped his understanding of how people, power, and structures interact in practice.
Years later, those lessons would prove valuable in governance.
During the COVID-19 period, while coordinating aspects of an agricultural intervention in Oyo State, a challenge emerged. A distribution plan designed and approved at the state level met resistance at the local level, where community stakeholders felt excluded. The response was immediate and forceful, and his team was turned back.
It could have ended there.
Instead, it became a lesson.
The approach was re-evaluated. Engagement was prioritised. Conversations were held. Local realities were acknowledged. When the team returned, they did so differently, with a structure that balanced state objectives and community expectations.
The result was not only a successful distribution, but also a restoration of alignment.
This pattern of stepping back, reassessing, and returning stronger reflects a deeper instinct. It shows a discipline to understand before acting.
Over time, this has shaped a distinct leadership style. One that does not remain distant, but present. On the ground. Across communities. In real conditions.
It is estimated that over the past two decades, he has traversed more than 75 percent of Oyo State, engaging directly with farmers and communities through initiatives linked to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Oyo State N-CARES, and the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project. These experiences have anchored his work firmly within the lived realities of people and systems.
There is also a clear recognition that opportunity, when given, must be fully utilised.
The platform provided under the leadership of Seyi Makinde created space to apply years of learning across contexts. Within that space, his work has consistently reflected structure, engagement, and execution.
Taken together, these experiences represent something deeper than a résumé.
They reveal a process. A gradual shaping of perspective built through responsibility, hardship, failure, mentorship, and practice.
It is from this foundation that the work seen today emerges. The result of years of preparation, much of it outside public view.
And perhaps that is the point.
Before systems are built, something else must be built first. Resilience. Judgment. Perspective.
Because in the end, systems are not merely designed. They are shaped by the experiences of those who build them.
Ajao sent this piece from Isale Oyo, Oyo.
