The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo, Segun Agboola, has called for a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s approach to governance, saying the country needs leaders who can build enduring systems rather than focus on short-term projects.
Agboola made the call in Ibadan at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the SDP ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The meeting brought together party leaders and stakeholders from across the state, including local government executives, state executive members and party candidates.
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The SDP candidate said his decision to contest the Oyo governorship election was driven by what he described as a “divine call” to contribute to the development of the society that raised and supported him.
“Traditionally, I’m not a politician. I’ve supported politicians, assisted politicians and promoted politicians. But the state we are in and the country right now calls for a fresh idea, calls for a fresh look at things and calls for well-intentioned people who believe that they have a social contract,” he said.
According to him, the social contract requires responsible citizens to serve as “the anchor between the past and the future,” warning that continued complaints about Nigeria’s challenges would not solve them.
He said the country needed to rethink its political leadership, particularly at a time when technology and artificial intelligence were rapidly changing the global economy and labour market.
“We all know that this is the age of artificial intelligence, where people are afraid of jobs being lost because the whole world is rethinking how they are doing business,” Agboola said.
He argued that governments at all levels must begin to prepare young Nigerians for jobs and opportunities that would emerge from the changing global economy.
“The children of today have been educated for a future that doesn’t exist, or rather, a future that is constantly changing and evolving at an alarming speed,” he said.
Agboola said education reform would therefore be a major priority of his administration if elected, stressing that Nigeria could no longer afford an education system that prepared young people mainly for traditional employment.
He also criticised what he described as short-term approaches to governance, saying the emphasis should shift from isolated projects to institutions and systems capable of surviving successive administrations.
“Pedestrian thinking is just tarring roads. Pedestrian thinking is just painting primary healthcare centres. Pedestrian thinking is launching a bridge.
“We should move into system thinking. How do we create a system that outlasts us? How do we create a system that our children’s children will be proud of when they get there?” he asked.
The SDP candidate said Nigeria could learn from countries that had built institutions which remained functional for decades and centuries after the individuals who established them had left office.
He also criticised the politics of patronage and the imposition of candidates, arguing that political leadership should be based on competence, capacity and accountability.
“Are we still going to be doing the politics of stomach infrastructure? Or are we going to be putting real structures in place?” he asked.
“Are we going to be researching and headhunting people who have been around the world, who have had all the great education that they possibly can, to be our leaders that we can hold accountable?”
Agboola further called for a political culture in which citizens with genuine interest and competence could offer themselves for public service without being subjected to political patronage.
On the preparedness of the SDP for the 2027 elections, he said the party was already mobilising its structures across Oyo State.
“That’s how prepared and ready SDP is. SDP is here to stay. It’s the oldest party. It’s not the kind of party that has changed names like most of the other parties. The name remains the same,” he said.
He said the presence of local government chairmen, women leaders, youth leaders and other party stakeholders at the meeting demonstrated the party’s grassroots strength.
Earlier, the Oyo State Chairman of the SDP, Okunlade Michael, said the meeting was organised to introduce Agboola to party members and stakeholders and formally commence preparations for the 2027 governorship election.
Michael said the party was determined to provide an alternative political platform in the state.
“Very soon, we are going to work together with all the local governments to ensure that we wrest power from the ruling APM,” he said.
He described the SDP as an established political party with structures and recognition across the country, unlike what he described as newly formed political platforms.
“SDP is the credible alternative that is on ground now. SDP is not like a new party. It is a logo that is known to even our grandmothers, our mothers and our fathers across the local governments,” Michael said.
The stakeholders’ meeting is expected to mark the beginning of wider grassroots mobilisation by the SDP as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 elections.