Former Oyo State Commissioner for Youth and Sports accepts appointment as Director of Youth Mobilisation for the Odidiomo Campaign Organisation, describing the assignment as “for us.”
The political conversation around youth participation in Oyo State has taken another step forward with the appointment of Hon. Seun Fakorede as Director of Youth Mobilisation for the Odidiomo Campaign Organisation.
Fakorede, a former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Oyo State, accepted the appointment after what he described as careful consideration of the responsibility and expectations that come with it.
Speaking at the presentation of his appointment letter, Fakorede said he was humbled by the confidence placed in him and explained that he did not immediately accept the offer when Odidiomo first approached him.
“When Most Distinguished, as I call him, reached out to me about this, I told him, I said, you know, I would think about it.”
For Fakorede, the decision to think about the assignment was not an indication that he intended to turn it down. He said he wanted to properly consider the responsibility before committing himself.
“Before I take up a responsibility, I always like to look at the pros and cons.”
He said the decision also required him to ask whether he could deliver what was expected of him without compromising the reputation and integrity he had built over the years.
After weighing the responsibility, Fakorede said he decided to accept the assignment.
“I thought about it, and I said, you know, I’m going to take this on. I’m going to grab it by the bull…”
Seven years in Oyo’s youth ecosystem
Fakorede’s perspective on the appointment is also shaped by his own experience in youth and sports administration in Oyo State.
He noted that he has spent seven years within the state’s youth and sports ecosystem — four years as Commissioner for Youth and Sports and, subsequently, as Executive Adviser to the Governor on Youth and Sports.
It is from that vantage point, he said, that he has observed Odidiomo’s engagement with young people.
“For these seven years, Most Distinguished has been one of the pillars of support to young people in Oyo State.”
Fakorede pointed to projects involving young people which he said had received Odidiomo’s support, describing the relationship as one that predates the current campaign season.
For him, the present appointment is therefore not an introduction to Odidiomo’s engagement with the youth constituency, but another responsibility within a relationship he has observed over time.
“This is still home, as it were.”
“He didn’t just start doing it because…”
Fakorede also made a distinction between Odidiomo’s current political ambitions and what he described as his previous support for young people.
“All the things he’s doing today, he didn’t just start doing them because he wanted to be governor, or now running for the Senate.”
He said, from his perspective, Odidiomo’s involvement with young people had been driven by what he described as goodwill and concern for the people of Oyo State.
That observation formed an important part of Fakorede’s explanation of why he was willing to take on the new campaign responsibility.
A youth mobilisation assignment
As Director of Youth Mobilisation, Fakorede now takes responsibility for the youth mobilisation arm of the Odidiomo Campaign Organisation as the campaign prepares for the 2027 senatorial election in Oyo South.
The appointment places someone with previous experience in the state’s youth and sports administration at the centre of the campaign’s youth engagement structure.
For Fakorede, however, the role is bigger than a campaign title.
He described the assignment as an opportunity to represent the aspirations of young people, particularly within Oyo South Senatorial District.
“On behalf of the young people in Oyo State, and particularly the young people in Oyo South Senatorial District, this is for us.”
“Whatever it takes…”
Fakorede ended his remarks by committing himself to the responsibility and expressing his determination to deliver on the assignment.
“By the special grace of God, whatever it takes, you know, for us to deliver the way we should, we shall.”
His appointment adds another component to the growing campaign structure around Odidiomo’s 2027 senatorial bid, with youth mobilisation now placed under the leadership of a former state youth and sports commissioner.
For Fakorede, the message was personal and direct: he has accepted the responsibility, understands what is expected of him, and sees the assignment as one that extends beyond himself.
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