YAYI’s ITESIWAJU Agenda Series: Episode 2: T—Tourism & Creative Arts (The Beauty And The Economy)

BY DEJI MAWUTIN

Last week in Episode 1, we laid the foundation for the unveiling of the 9-Point ITESIWAJU Agenda of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola YAYI, beginning with the first alphabet I (Infrastructure).

Today, we want to plaster and paint the house. Because a house without beauty, without culture, has no life inside. We take the second alphabet of ITESIWAJU: T —TOURISM & CREATIVE ARTS.

Many people think tourism is just enjoyment. Big lie. In Dubai, in Rwanda, in Egypt, tourism is the biggest contributor to their GDP.

In Ogun State, God has given us everything, but we have left it to rot. Olumo Rock, Oronna Shrine, Iganmode, Isaga, Ebute Oni in Ogun Waterside, Adire in Abeokuta, Ojude Oba in Ijebuland are crude oil that never dries.

WHAT IS THE ITESIWAJU VISION FOR TOURISM?

In the 9-point agenda unveiled by Senator Adeola YAYI recently in Abeokuta, the State Capital, the All Progressives Congress, APC Candidate said clearly that: He will promote Film, Fashion, Music, Adire, Drama, Comedy and our great Festivals as a revenue machine. He will develop a Digital Tourism Portal for Ogun State, develop flagship cultural events, build capacity for our creatives and make Ogun the Creative Capital of South Western Nigeria. This is not audio. Let us check his antecedents. I am very sure that words are sweet to say but we can use antecedents as a yardstick to judge if a man will put his words into action.

ANTECEDENT 1: HE IS A CULTURAL ENTHUSIAST, NOT A VISITOR

Go and ask the people of Ilaro. At the 32nd Oronna Ilaro Festival Grand Finale, YAYI stood on the stage and said: “Let me place it on record that in all ways possible, I am an enthusiast of our culture, especially when it encourages tourism and economic development”. He did not just say it. In the last three years, he has turned Oronna Ilaro Festival from a local town gathering to a national and international cultural tourism event that now attracts sponsors, tourists from Lagos and the Diaspora. Hotels are fully booked in Ilaro during the festival. That is what a promoter of culture and tourism does, and not just words.

ANTECEDENT 2: IGANMODE, ISAGA AND THE AWORI HERITAGE

Last year at the 2025 Iganmode Cultural Festival in Ota themed “Culture and Fashion as a Language of Identity” YAYI was there live. He did not send a representative. At the Festival, he spoke about how masquerades, Awori fashion, traditional music and dance are not just entertainment but tools for job creation, youth engagement and grassroots economic growth. This is the nerve of every indigenous society as it is practised all over the world.

At Isaga Day Festival, his own ancestral home in Isaga-Orile, Yayi facilitated an ultra-modern palace, internal roads with streetlights, a town hall, blocks of classrooms and now a modern pavilion and market, because he understands that tourism cannot grow where there is no infrastructure to receive visitors.

Ask the Olota of Ota, ask the Onisaga of Isaga, they will tell you YAYI does not use culture only during election. He does not buy chieftaincy titles only at the build up to elections but he is a man rooted in our culture and always out to promote and protect it.

ANTECEDENT 3: THE CREATIVE ECONOMY–THE YOUTH ARE HIS PROJECT

This is where many politicians fail. They call youths lazy, but they don’t fund their talent. Senator YAYI in the last two years alone has:

● Empowered over 50,000 constituents through skill acquisition, equipment support and cash grants. Many of them are tailors/fashion designers, DJs, makeup artists, photographers, videographers among others who are parts of the real creative industry.
● Given 15,000 market men and women grants of N25,000 to N50,000 to boost Adire and local fabrics trade.
● Given laptops to over 1,000 secondary school students and scholarships/bursaries to more than 10000 tertiary students to build the next generation of digital creators.
● Sponsored and supported Ojude Oba, Lisabi Day, Akesan Day, Oronna and Iganmode Festivals. Putting money directly into the pockets of drummers, dancers, caterers and artisans.

When he was in Lagos West as lawmaker, Yayi empowered hundreds in fish production, fashion and ICT. The same template he is replicating in Ogun West and by extension Ogun State even when we all know he is representing Ogun West.

WHAT WILL HE DO AS GOVERNOR?

From what he has already presented, under the ITESIWAJU Agenda, Ogun State will have:

● Ogun State Digital Tourism Portal & Calendar: Every festival, every tourist site, every Adire market will be online for the world to book.
● Creative Hubs in Abeokuta, Ilaro, Sagamu and Ota: Where our young boys doing comedy, skit, music and fashion will get free studio, free internet, and grants to enhance their creativity.
● Gateway Cargo Airport and Tourism: The airport at Iperu that Governor Dapo Abiodun has started will not just carry cargo, it will also lift tourists coming for Ojude Oba and Olumo Rock. YAYI has said he will complete and expand it to meet international standard.
● Adire as Global Brand: He will push Adire, Ofi and local fabrics to the world like Ghana did with Kente. This will create millions for our women in Itoku and Ilaro.

My people, in construction we say: “Fine finishing increases the value of the house”. Ogun State has a solid structure, but we need fine finishing. We need a Governor who knows that a drummer in Ilaro deserves as much government support as a civil servant in Oke-Mosan.

Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola YAYI has shown in his antecedents that he respects the culture, he respects the drum, he respects the crown, he respects the Adire, and he respects the youth with camera. His government will continue to build on the foundation laid and will effect correction where the foundation seems shaky.

Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola YAYI is coming to make Ogun State the haven for culture and tourism and the exporter of creative talents all over the world. A vote for him is a vote for creative excellence and enhancing our cultural heritage and values.

 

 

~Mawutin Imoleayo Abraham Nudewhenu Deji, a member of the APC 2027 state campaign council writes from Gbodojego Village, Ijofin Ward, Ipokia Local Government