thesilkroadtoday
By Michael Adeboboye, Chairman of Board, Congress of African Journalists.
With Dr. Barr. Olumuyiwa Sylvester Adu ‘Cubana’ — Ondo Central Senatorial District’s Prosperity Leaps
As 2027 approaches, giving ADU the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for Ondo Central Senatorial District is a beginning of a sail to promising territory, and eventual election into the Senate is a delivery of unprecedented development.
Ondo Central Senatorial District faces a clear choice: continuity of promises or a leap into measurable prosperity. The name on the lips of traders in Oja-Oba, students in FUTA, and youths in Idanre is Dr. Barr. Olumuyiwa Sylvester Adu ‘Cubana’ — a blend of legal intellect, grassroots compassion, and boardroom competence. Here’s why Adu is best positioned to represent Ondo Central in the Senate:
Influencing Infrastructural Development .
Adu’s legal and business background gives him leverage where it matters: budget committees and PPP frameworks. Ondo Central’s challenges are mapped — the Akure–Ondo–Ore road bottleneck, flooding in Oda and Oke-Aro, rural electrification gaps in Ifedore and Ondo East.
How Adu delivers:
Bills & Motions: Sponsor the Ondo Central Infrastructure Intervention Bill to ring-fence federal allocations for erosion control, intra-city roads, and solar mini-grids. Use data from town-halls to justify priority projects in the Appropriation Act.
Oversight Power: As Senator, chair or sit on Works, FERMA, and NDDC oversight to track every kobo approved for Ondo Central. No more abandoned projects.
Federal Leverage: Deploy his national legal network to unlock FG/World Bank funding for the Akure Airport cargo terminal and dualization of Oba-Ile–Shagari road, turning the district into a logistics hub.
Reviving the Educational Sector Through Engagement & Bills.
Ondo Central is the intellectual heart of the state — FUTA, UNIMED, Adeyemi College, College of Health Tech. Yet classrooms leak, hostels decay, and graduates roam jobless.
Adu’s Senate blueprint:
Legislative Action: Sponsor the Ondo Central Tertiary Education Support Bill — mandating TETFund special intervention for dilapidated hostels, labs, and digital libraries across FUTA, UNIMED, and AOCOED.
Constituency Projects: Convert zonal intervention funds into 6 ICT/STEM hubs — one per LGA — with free coding, robotics, and AI training for secondary students.
Policy Engagement: Push Senate Committee on Education to review the NUC curriculum, linking courses in Ondo Central institutions to agribusiness, tech, and health value chains in the district.
Empowerment for Youths & Market Women.
Prosperity leaps when money reaches the stalls of Oja-Oba and the workshops of youth in Oke-Ijebu.
Adu’s empowerment model:
Market Women: Create the Ondo Central Women Enterprise Fund via Senate motion — ₦500M revolving loan at single-digit interest, disbursed through cooperatives in Akure South, Ondo West, Ifedore. Add modern stalls + solar power in Oja-Oba and Owena markets.
Youth: Launch Cubana Tech & Trades Scheme — train 5,000 youths yearly in solar installation, agri-processing, fashion-tech, and digital marketing. Link graduates to SMEDAN, BOI, and private off-takers.
Bills: Co-sponsor amendment to the National Youth Service Corps Act to allow PPA postings within senatorial districts, so Ondo Central graduates serve and build their own communities.
Students’ Educational Support & Scholarships.
Adu’s ‘Cubana’ brand is already tied to philanthropy. In the Senate, scale becomes law.
Ondo Central Senate Scholarship Board: Use constituency project funds + private partners to award 1,000 annual scholarships — 500 for indigent secondary students, 500 for undergraduates in medicine, law, engineering, agric.
Law School Support: Annual grant for all Ondo Central indigenes admitted to Nigerian Law School — no child of the district should defer due to fees.
Bursary Automation: Digitize bursary applications to cut patronage. Every student applies online, gets SMS alerts, paid direct to account.
Other Sectors Where Adu Delivers Dividends of Democracy.
Healthcare: Sponsor Ondo Central Primary Healthcare Revamp Bill — equip 36 PHCs, one per ward, with solar, drugs, and resident midwives. Push for UNIMEDTH to get federal oncology and cardiac centers.
Agriculture: Ondo West cocoa, Idanre plantain, Ifedore palm. Adu will push Senate Committee on Agric to include Ondo Central in CBN’s Anchor Borrowers 2.0, plus cold-chain hubs for tomatoes and vegetables from Ita-Ogbolu.
Security: Use legal expertise to draft motions for state police pilot in Ondo Central. Lobby for 2 new mobile police squadrons in Akure and Ondo to curb kidnapping along Akure–Ilesa road.
Culture & Tourism: Idanre Hills, Igbo Olodumare, Oke-Maria. Sponsor National Heritage Site Development Bill_ to get FG funding for access roads, cable cars, and festivals — turning tourism into jobs.
Sports Development: Revive Akure Township Stadium. Create Ondo Central Youth Sports Trust to sponsor boxing, athletics, and football scouting. Produce the next Odunayo Adekuoroye from the district.
Digital Economy: Partner NITDA to declare Akure a Digital Innovation Zone — tax breaks for startups, fiber-to-street for Oda, Oba-Ile, and Ondo town.
Why Adu, Why Now?
The 3 “C”
Ondo Central doesn’t need another speech-maker. It needs a senator-lawyer-philanthropist who understands appropriation, oversight, and international partnerships. Dr. Barr. Olumuyiwa Sylvester Adu ‘Cubana’ brings three assets Abuja respects:
Competence: Legal mind to draft bills that pass, not just trend.
Compassion: Track record of ground-level giving — scholarships, medical bills, boreholes — before politics.
Courage: No godfather. No cabal. Only the people of Ondo Central to answer to.
When the Senate roll is called, Ondo Central needs a voice that moves motions and moves tractors, approves budgets and_ approves scholarships. With Adu, prosperity isn’t a slogan. It’s a line item.
Ondo Central 2027: Leaps, Not Steps
