The Founder and Managing Director of Sodium Group of companies, Abisoye Fagade, has announced his intention to join the gubernatorial race for Oyo State in 2023. The announcement was made during a speech at an event hosted by Friends of Fagade Abisoye recently in Lagos, Nigeria.
Read his speech below:
All my life I’ve been surrounded by people; by love; ideas, solutions, and opportunities.
All my life, since I was born to date, I have looked around me and found that no matter what you know, no matter what you have; if you don’t have a tribe; a community of people who love you and stand by you then you really have nothing.
I stand here tonight, looking around the room, and telling myself you’re not all here tonight because I am Abisoye Fagade. You’re not all here tonight because I’m promising and successful; because I have potential.
Actually: I am Abisoye Fagade because you’re here tonight. I have potential, I am promising, and I am confident I will be successful because you’re here tonight. I have people; my own people, YOU and that’s all that matters.
I have always been big on celebrating birthdays. For myself, for friends, for my wife, and my family. I believe it’s one of the most important days in a human’s life and I always go all out to celebrate and thank God for life and good health but it’s different this year. As you already know, I have been giving back to my state and local communities in Oyo, through the Oyo Si Maa Dun project. We have trained over 10,000people in 5years years; donated over 250m to different causes; and intervened in so many areas across all the local governments. And today, I am pleased to have you, my friends, colleagues, partners, and family, with me as we officially launch the OSMD Network, the foundation. The vision is simple: to make Oyo, the state, its people, projects, priorities, and platforms, as sweet and successful as anyone could imagine. It’s what I’m dedicating my life to and I couldn’t be happier to have you come on this journey with me.
But that’s not all.
Our dear state, our pride; the pride of Nigeria, and Africa, needs fresh ideas and urgent solutions, and strategic leadership. We gave this country its first university; its first television station. We are known for our exploits in business and academia; in governance and infrastructure. Oyo state was years ahead of its contemporaries in science, religion, warfare, culture, and politics. We all read the history, so we know the story.
So what happened?
Today, we are not on the top 10 tables of any critical Nigerian metric you want to measure in terms of economy, education, security, jobs, and what have you. Each time I think of where we are; I feel a bitter taste in my mouth.
I’m an entrepreneur who just wanted to build my business, create jobs, solve problems in different industries, and take care of my family. For many years, I have fought the urge to dip my feet into the pool of politics. We’ve all heard the song: oh, politics is dirty; it is messy; it is expensive, bla bla bla. I know the lyrics of that song. And it played in my ears for over 20 years.
But for how long would we continue to allow the worst from amongst us to lead the best of us? For how long would we continue to complain while doing absolutely nothing to change the system? For how long would we give excuses instead of actually doing something?
Today, after many months of consultations, planning, and prayers, I am happy to inform you that I have decided to contest for the office of Governor in Oyo State, under our great party, the All People’s Congress, APC.
The OSMD Network has done a lot in the past few years. I have personally done a lot, covertly, and overtly. And I have rallied friends to intervene in many areas especially when it concerns youth, jobs and culture but I want to do more.
And I want to know I can count on your support. Will you support me? Can I count on you?
It starts by donating tonight. It starts with a simple tweet, a Facebook or Instagram post. It starts by getting your PVC; by telling someone not here tonight about what we are doing. It starts by believing.
But, believing in what you ask? Believing in the vision that Oyo Si Maa Dun. That we can score many more firsts in education, healthcare, technology, finance, agriculture, transportation and security. By believing that we can build our economy, create jobs for our youth, protect the vulnerable, take care of the elderly, and leverage technology to take our state into the future; a future where our children’s lives matter, where there’s dignity in labour; where our leaders are answerable to us. A future where we can gather audiences from all over the world and share our case study on how to build a state the way Steve Jobs built Apple; the way Bill Gates built Microsoft; the way Larry and Sergey built Google.
I won’t have you by my side because we are doing all of these; because we are changing the face of governance and accomplishing things hitherto unthought and unheard. l would be achieving all of these because I have you beside me.
I never take that for granted.”
