Celebrating A Pioneer of Many Firsts, Adebo Ogundoyin @ 37 – Oyetunji Oyekunle

That the name Ogundoyin is a household name in Eruwa, the entire Ibarapaland and Oyo State is no doubt an incontrovertible fact. A trip down memory lane revealed that the family name was popularized by the great philanthropist, business mogul and community leader, Chief Adeseun Ayisa Ogundoyin of blessed memory.

As fate would have it, one of the children of the late Ogundoyin, Adebo Ogundoyin, the second of the four children of late Chief Mrs. Justina Iyabo Ogundoyin who plunged into active politics in 2017 has recorded great achievements and has carved a niche for himself as a child of destiny and a young politician to reckon with. This young man who lost his dear father at the age of four is fast becoming a man of many firsts. 

Born 37years ago today, precisely February 17, 1987 in Eruwa, Adebo Ogundoyin is a result driven and goal oriented youngman.

His first ever political posters appeared on the streets of Eruwa and Lanlate in Ibarapa East Local Government area of Oyo State in 2018 when at the age of 31, Young Adebo declared his intention to contest in a by-election conducted by the regime of the late Sen. Abiola Ajimobi following the death of the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Michael Adeyemo. Fortune smiled on him as he won the keenly contested by-election, and this set the pace for the many firsts of the Eruwa born lawmaker. 

This victory made him the first member of Ogundoyin’s family to have contested and won an election. His emergence also made him the youngest lawmaker ever to have won an election into Oyo State House of Assembly.

As a graduate of Agronomy from the prestigious Babcock University, Inisan Remo, Ogun State, Adebo quickly rolled up his sleeves and used the remaining few months to the end of the 8th Oyo State House of Assembly under the late Gov. Abiola Ajimobi to garner and master the nitty-gritty of legislative activities and oversight functions. 

In 2019, armed with his first time experience, Adebo again got the overwhelming votes of the people of Ibarapa East State Constituency. This gave him the mandate to represent them for the second consecutive time. This time around his political party, PDP secured a landslide victory winning 26 seats, leaving only 5 seats for the APC and just one seat for the ADP.

As a focused, highly consistent and persistent parliamentarian, Adebo made another outstanding first on June 10, 2019 when he emerged unanimously as the Speaker of the 9th Oyo State House of Assembly at the enviable age of 32. With this, he set an unprecedented new record by becoming the youngest Speaker in Oyo State and in Nigeria as a whole.

Adebo Ogundoyin as the Speaker of the 9th Oyo State House of Assembly gave the legislative assignment his all and at the expiration of the four years tenure of the lawmakers, the Assembly made groundbreaking achievements which led to another first for the young parliamentarian. The 9th Assembly under him beat all previous records of achievements of past Assemblies in Oyo State having passed a total of 97 Bills, 150 Motions, 400 Resolutions and over 90 Committee Reports.

In furtherance of his ambition to continue to serve his constituents, Adebo Ogundoyin for the third consecutive times won the March 18, 2023 Ibarapa East State Constituency election. With this uncommon victory, the Eruwa born lawmaker accomplished what has never been achieved before in his constituency and Oyo State at large as he became the first lawmaker in the annals of Oyo State legislature to have won three elections consecutively. He consequently became the highest ranking member of the 10th Oyo State House of Assembly – (third time member).

On account of his high ranking status coupled with his vast experience in legislative activities and the excellent feats recorded by the 9th Oyo State House of Assembly under his watch, both returning and new members of the 10th Oyo State House of Assembly unanimously and unhesitantly re-elected him the Speaker for the second consecutive time. With this, he added yet another first by becoming the first Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly to have been elected for two consecutive terms – uninterrupted.

Propelled by his innate ambition to serve at another higher level and as a big dreamer, Adebo Ogundoyin expressed interest in leading the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, and on the 16th of September, 2023 at heart of Abuja Adebo, Ogundoyin pulled another big surprise when he was elected the Conference Chairman at the age of 36years. This time around he broke three records. First, Adebo emerged the first member of the opposition party in Nigeria to be elected the Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria. Secondly, at 36years he became the youngest occupant of that position in the history of the Conference and above all, no Oyo State lawmaker had occupied that position in the history of the pacesetter State, hence Adebo Ogundoyin broke the jinx. What a feat!

It is worth mentioning that, since becoming the Chairman, Adebo Ogundoyin has been pursuing his visions for the Conference of Speakers leveraging on his experience, connections and network.  He is already fostering unity and collaboration between the Conference, the States and Federal Government, engendering a stronger working relationship and promoting cross fertilization of ideas amongst State legislators as well as working out modalities to improve legislative processes at State levels.

There is no doubt that with his unrelenting versatility, hardwork, exceptional conscientiousness, uncommon doggedness as well as his potentials in breaking new grounds, building relationships and establishing connections which continue to manifest in everything he does, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin is brilliantly poised to add more firsts to the growing list of his achievements as new responsibilities, challenges and political exploits beckon.

Behold one of the youngest go-getters of our time – Adebo Ogundoyin, a pioneer of many firsts.

Happy 37th birthday to a superb young man, an exceptional legislator and an amazing personality with a touch of class. May God inspire you to greater accomplishments and achievements in your future endeavours. Amen

Many Happy Returns of the Day to Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, Speaker Oyo State House of Assembly and Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria.