𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘯 𝘛𝘰 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘵: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺

A look at the policies, projects and governance philosophy behind Seyi Makinde’s 2027 presidential bid

Seven years into Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration in Oyo State, the political conversation around his 2027 presidential ambition has increasingly shifted from what he has done at the state level to a broader question: Can the policies and governance philosophy pursued in Oyo be adapted to the scale and complexity of Nigeria?

Makinde, who emerged as the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) for the 2027 election, has subsequently unveiled the Reset Nigeria Agenda, placing the economy, education, security and governance at the centre of his national message.

For supporters of the Seyi Makinde Presidential Movement (SMPM), Oyo provides the starting point for that argument.

The case they make is not that a state and a federation are identical. Rather, it is that some of the policy approaches tested in Oyo particularly in agribusiness, infrastructure, healthcare, education, energy and public-private partnerships provide examples that could inform a broader national policy framework.

AGRIBUSINESS: FROM FARMING TO VALUE CREATION

Agriculture has been one of the central components of the Makinde administration’s economic strategy.

The government established the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) and has pursued the development of agricultural estates and processing hubs. The Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub has become a major component of that strategy, with the state saying the facility has attracted private-sector investment and has been designated by the African Development Bank as a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.

The administration has also pursued agricultural development at Eruwa and other locations, with current projects designed around agro-processing, value addition, logistics, warehousing and private-sector participation.

The proposed national lesson is straightforward: rather than viewing agriculture primarily as subsistence farming, government can seek to connect production with processing, storage, transportation, markets and investment.

At national scale, such an approach would require substantial adaptation because Nigeria’s agricultural economy spans different ecological zones, production systems, markets and institutional structures.

But the underlying policy question remains relevant:

How can Nigeria move from producing agricultural commodities to building competitive value chains around them?

EDUCATION: BUILDING HUMAN CAPITAL

Education is another pillar of the Oyo administration’s development agenda.

The state government and education authorities have reported investments in school infrastructure, teacher recruitment and training, furniture and other learning facilities. In 2025, the Oyo SUBEB chairman said the administration’s interventions had reduced infrastructure gaps and contributed to increased enrolment in public schools.

The wider policy argument is that education should not be treated simply as recurrent expenditure. It is also an investment in human capital, productivity and the future workforce.

A national adaptation of this philosophy would require attention not only to classrooms and teachers but also to technical and vocational education, digital skills, science and technology, research, tertiary institutions and the connection between education and employment.

The national question therefore becomes:

Can education policy be designed as a direct component of Nigeria’s economic development strategy?

HEALTHCARE: STRENGTHENING THE PUBLIC SYSTEM

Healthcare has also featured prominently in the Oyo administration’s development priorities.

The state has reported extensive upgrades to healthcare facilities, recruitment of health professionals and improvements to secondary and primary healthcare infrastructure. The Oyo government has also linked its health-sector policies to efforts to improve healthcare delivery and address the effects of medical brain drain.

The administration’s earlier healthcare programme included the upgrading of hundreds of primary healthcare centres across the state, with the stated objective of improving access to basic healthcare at the grassroots.

At the federal level, however, the challenge is considerably larger.

Nigeria’s national healthcare system requires coordination between federal, state and local institutions, sustainable financing, health insurance expansion, medical workforce retention, equipment, medicines and stronger primary healthcare.

The broader lesson from Oyo is therefore less about copying individual projects and more about asking how government can make accessible healthcare part of the foundation of economic productivity.

INFRASTRUCTURE: ROADS AS ECONOMIC CONNECTORS

Makinde’s infrastructure policy has placed considerable emphasis on roads and transportation networks.

The administration has pursued major road projects, including the Ibadan Circular Road, Iseyin-Ogbomoso corridor and other urban and rural routes. Current work also includes the 110-kilometre Rashidi Ladoja Circular Road, while the state is upgrading the Samuel Ladoke Akintola International Airport.

Oyo’s investment-planning documents also identify road transportation, airport development, inland dry ports, industrial parks, energy and railway transportation as interconnected infrastructure priorities.

This points to a broader conception of infrastructure.

A road is not only a road when it connects a farm to a market.

An airport is not merely an aviation project when it connects businesses, tourists and investors to a region.

A dry port is not simply a logistics facility when it reduces the cost and time of moving goods.

The national policy challenge is therefore to build infrastructure around economic activity rather than treating construction projects as isolated achievements.

ENERGY: POWERING PRODUCTIVITY

Perhaps one of the clearest examples of an infrastructure-as-economic-policy approach is Oyo’s independent power project.

The state entered into arrangements for an 11MW hybrid power solution consisting of gas-fired generation and solar power. The project was designed initially to supply government facilities, healthcare institutions, public lighting and other strategic facilities in Ibadan.

By November 2024, the Oyo government reported that the project was nearing commissioning.

For Nigeria, the larger question is unavoidable:

What would happen to productivity if reliable electricity became an increasingly dependable foundation for businesses, hospitals, schools, manufacturers and technology companies?

Any national energy strategy would obviously involve issues far beyond state-level power projects, including generation, transmission, distribution, gas supply, regulation and private investment.

But Oyo’s experience illustrates the importance of viewing electricity not merely as a utility, but as an economic enabler.

INVESTMENT AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

Another recurring feature of the Makinde administration has been the use of public-private partnerships and alternative project financing.

Oyo’s investment agency, OYSIPA, identifies infrastructure, airport development, inland dry ports, industrial parks, housing, healthcare, energy, railway transportation and education among areas for public-private collaboration.

The model reflects a broader proposition: government does not necessarily have to finance and operate every major economic project itself.

Its role can include establishing clear rules, providing infrastructure, reducing bureaucratic barriers, improving security and creating conditions that make private investment viable.

At national scale, however, such a model would have to operate within stronger federal institutions and a much larger regulatory and fiscal environment.

AIRPORTS, LOGISTICS AND REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY

The proposed transformation of Ibadan Airport into a regional transportation hub is another component of the state’s economic strategy.

The administration has linked airport development to road connectivity and broader regional economic activity, including connections towards Ogun State and other parts of the South-West. Current construction includes a new terminal and runway expansion.

The broader national implication is the possibility of treating airports, ports, railways, highways, dry ports and industrial zones as parts of one logistics ecosystem.

For a country as geographically large as Nigeria, reducing the cost and time of moving people and goods could have implications for agriculture, manufacturing, trade and investment.

SECURITY: DEVELOPMENT NEEDS A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

Security is one of the four pillars identified by the Oyo government.

The administration has supported the state’s security architecture, including Amotekun and Operation Burst, while acknowledging that challenges remain in some areas.

At the national level, security presents a much more complex challenge involving terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal conflict, maritime security, cybercrime and other threats.

Any attempt to transfer lessons from Oyo to Nigeria would therefore require institutional reforms, inter-agency coordination, intelligence capacity, policing reforms and constitutional considerations.

Nevertheless, the basic development relationship is clear: investment and economic activity are difficult to sustain where people and businesses cannot operate safely.

FROM OMITUNTUN TO RESET NIGERIA

The political proposition now being advanced by Makinde and his supporters is that the experience of Oyo should become part of a national conversation.

The argument can be summarised through a series of policy connections:

Agriculture → Agribusiness → Processing → Industrialisation → Jobs

Education → Skills → Human Capital → Productivity

Healthcare → Healthier Citizens → Productive Workforce

Infrastructure → Connectivity → Investment → Economic Expansion

Security → Confidence → Investment → Economic Activity

Reliable Energy → Lower Operating Costs → Production → Employment

That is the framework through which the SMPM presents the transition from Omituntun to what it calls a national reset.

Makinde has now formally placed that proposition before the national electorate through his APM presidential campaign. In September 2026, he unveiled the Reset Nigeria Agenda, describing it as a programme centred on economic productivity, skills, knowledge, security and governance reforms.

But the national debate should go beyond slogans.

Nigeria is considerably more complex than any individual state. A policy that works at state level may require substantial modification when applied across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

There are also legitimate questions that a national campaign must answer: how would the proposed policies be financed? Which institutions would implement them? How would federal and state responsibilities be coordinated? What measurable targets would determine success? How would implementation be monitored? And how would the administration respond when national realities differ from state-level experience?

These questions do not diminish the relevance of the Oyo experience. Rather, they provide the basis for testing whether the lessons from the state can withstand national scrutiny.

THE NATIONAL QUESTION

The most important question surrounding the Makinde presidential bid may therefore not simply be whether Oyo has changed under his administration.

It is whether the policies, institutions and governance choices developed in Oyo can be translated, adapted and strengthened for a country of more than 200 million people with widely different economic, social and security realities.

That is the proposition now before Nigerians.

From Omituntun to Reset Nigeria, the argument is moving from a state-level record to a national policy conversation.

The test, ultimately, will be whether the proposed national agenda can translate documented policy ideas and state-level experiences into measurable, sustainable outcomes at federal scale.

For the 2027 presidential contest, that makes the Makinde record in Oyo not merely a campaign talking point, but an issue for public scrutiny.