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Ejekaseyi Jobs: Exploring An Unusual Employment Creation Model That Works | By Sayo Aluko
In just six (6) months, a dossier of data detailing the progress of beneficiaries from the “Ejekaseyi” empowerment programme shows that over 50 percent among them now run thriving businesses, making up to ₦60,000 every month. But the most striking part is the fact that these beneficiaries are set to re-empower other unemployed youths in their respective communities.
In the month of December, 2018, 100 unemployed youths across the eight (8) communities of AFIJIO local government in Oyo State were enrolled into this empowerment program that was ran by the 7Eleven Foundation, and the singular aim was to not only give them a source of income, but to start a chain-reaction of job creation in the zone.
The impactful outcome of this empowerment programme as stated above, has caused statewide buzz, such that it is being widely touted as a readied template to be deployed by other facilitators in other zones in the state and across the country.
Buoyed by the need to do things differently and achieve an unusual result, the facilitator of the empowerment programme, one-named Seyi Adisa, a politician who at the time was the All Progressives Congress House of Assembly candidate for Afijio, was quoted saying that the idea of the Ejekaseyi Jobs was birthed from his team’s mantra of running a campaign of substance as against a campaign of merely-mouthed political promises.
He explained, “When you look round Afijio at that time we started, what you’d observe, just like you will in some other parts of the country, is a pool of youths not getting productive with their time and energy mostly because of the lack of opportunities to thrive. We saw a situation of youth unemployment tethered to the lack of opportunities.
“But then, we also noticed that this situation has been persistent despite supposed empowerment programmes that have been brought to these youths. At that point, we were tasked with the question – What could be missing? Why are these pools of youths unproductive and unemployed despite a handful of opportunities they’ve been exposed to by successive empowerment programmes in the past?”
“Well, we discovered three major gaps which were – a lack of financial and business management skills, a lack of mentoring and also a lack of supervision. And, these are the components we decided to add to our style of empowerment, much more like wholesome human capital development”.
“Our team accepted the fact that it will take more than arming these youths with vocational skills to make them gainfully empowered first, and also so well enough to re-empower others. Tasking as it looked, still, it wasn’t rocket science”.
Seyi Adisa’s team partnered with the 7eleven Foundation, a non-profit known for empowering entrepreneurs with life skills right from incubation to activation, to train these 100 selected youths in 5 different crafts namely catering, tie and dye, paint making and painting, shoe-making, and fish and snail farming.
A week-long intensive training of this lot involved masterclass from different professionals who took the beneficiaries through practical layers of financial and business management. Together with the tools given to each of them after this training in form of their take-off support, they have been undergoing continued mentoring and supervision in these 6 months, a process which will go on for another 6 months.
These successes recorded so far with the EJEKASEYI JOBS isn’t unconnected to this unusual process of empowerment detailed above. It is clearly a story of pure desire to get youths off the streets, which then gave birth to a thorough and exemplary solution that seems to last.
In Afijio today, the graduands from that programme are not only gainfully employed, but are indeed creating employment themselves. They are the success stories of this unusual incubation-to-activation style of empowerment.
There is the story of Olabiyi Tolulope and Akano Mary, who are beneficiaries from Ilora town of Afijio Local Government Area, have grown productively with the skill they learnt during the one week intensive vocational training. They both learnt catering and had in the last six months made several moves among which are: supplying snacks to private schools, doing home and office deliveries, as well as rendering catering customized services to grow their business.
The story of Oladejo Veronica is a single mother from Fiditi town is particularly more intriguing. She also learnt the craft of catering and in the last six months, she hasn’t only established a living, she has also been able to scale up the business with the purchase of an additional 6kg Gas cylinder. That’s how successful the knowledge they were impacted with, works. According to her books, she makes an average of N2100 daily profit from the business, from which she’s been able to enroll her child into school, as well as greatly improve her standard of living.
If this data coming from the Afijio 100 is to be believed, beneficiaries who trained in the tie and dye craft are now “busy merchants”, as they are now the go-to people for both day-to-day and ceremonial clothes in the entire Oyo area, at the famous central Iware market, and as far as Ibadan, the state capital.
For Oguntokun Samson, Ojediran Remi and Salisu Ali, they have successfully given “birth”. These trio benefited from the vocational training, learning shoe making, tie and dye, and paint production respectively. In the last six months, Oguntokun, Ojediran and Salisu have been able to court one (1) apprentice each under their wings, channeling the training into them and setting another three (3) erstwhile unemployed individuals on their way to become gainfully empowered too.
Exploring the rave behind these testimonies of Ejekaseyi jobs is just very timely, as it will not be untrue to now admit that, if it works in Afijio and for Afijio youths, it will definitely work anywhere else where there is a lingering situation of unemployment amongst our energetic youths.
Furthermore, it is quite clear that this veritable and mentor-friendly empowerment idea behind Ejekaseyi jobs is steadily proving to be a potent antibiotic against the infection of unemployment, as far as the youth is concerned, and you wouldn’t be wrong if you’re unable to resist the temptation to give deserved kudos to Seyi Adisa and his team.
The Kano State House of Assembly has initiated impeachment proceedings against Deputy Governor Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo over allegations of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and breach of public trust.
The notice was presented yesterday during plenary by the Majority Leader, Lawan Hussaini Dala, who said the action follows Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Dala said the allegations stem from Abdussalam’s tenure as Commissioner for Local Government (2023–2024) and his current role as deputy governor. He accused the deputy governor of diverting funds meant for the 44 local government councils.
According to the majority leader, Abdussalam allegedly received N1.5 million monthly from each council between June 2023 and January 2024, totaling N462 million. Between February and July 2024, he allegedly collected N3.255 million monthly from each council under the guise of special assignments, amounting to N726 million.
Dala also accused the deputy governor of abuse of office, claiming he facilitated payments of N10 million from each council to NovoMed Pharmaceuticals Limited, totaling N440 million, in violation of state procurement laws.
“The misuse of official capacity to confer undue advantage constitutes abuse of power and undermines public trust,” Dala told lawmakers, adding that the allegations amount to gross misconduct under the Constitution.
The impeachment notice was reportedly endorsed by 38 lawmakers, meeting the constitutional threshold to proceed. The Speaker has acknowledged receipt, and the House is expected to serve the allegations on the deputy governor.
If approved, a panel may be constituted by the state Chief Judge to investigate the claims.
As of filing, Abdussalam had yet to respond publicly to the allegations.
The Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, on Thursday announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), declaring that he had joined the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa State, made the announcement during a media briefing in Abuja, attributing his decision to what he described as irreconcilable differences within the PDP.
The lawmaker said the emergence of the NDC would strengthen Nigeria’s democratic system by providing a credible opposition platform.
According to him, the party recently received its certificate of registration from the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He said, “Last week INEC issued a certificate of registration and we now have the newest party in Nigeria known as the Nigeria Democratic Congress and our symbol is victory, the victory sign.
“So, my dear Nigerians, you now have a credible alternative opposition party known as the Nigeria Democratic Congress.”
Dickson noted that although the party’s registration took longer than expected, its eventual approval was a welcome development for the country’s democratic landscape.
“Yes, it is coming at this time. We would have wished it started some years or months back. We don’t control INEC and their processes; they delayed. We don’t also control the judiciary, but thank God it has finally arrived,” he said.
The senator also stressed that Nigeria’s democracy must not slide into a one-party system, insisting that political diversity remained vital for national stability.
“This nation cannot be a one-party state. Nigeria cannot be a one-party state. Nigeria is not designed to be a one-party state.
“We are a very diverse nation culturally, religiously and politically and that is the beauty of our country.
“So anyone or any party promoting one-party rule in Nigeria is mistaken. We build political parties and get involved in movements to access power for the good of the people, not for our personal benefit,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission recently announced the registration of two new political parties.
The parties are the Democratic Leadership Alliance and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, bringing the total number of registered political parties in Nigeria to 21.
The announcement was made by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, during the commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with political party stakeholders for 2026.
According to him, the Democratic Leadership Alliance completed the required verification process, while the Nigeria Democratic Congress was registered in compliance with a Federal High Court order.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 58-year-old alleged drug lord, Uzoma Valentine Ilomuanya, who had reportedly been on the agency’s wanted list and that of British authorities for over 15 years.
Ilomuanya was apprehended in Lagos on Monday, February 23, 2026, following what the agency described as a high-level, coordinated operation by officers of its Special Operations Unit.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Director of Media and Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi said the suspect’s arrest ended a prolonged manhunt linked to his alleged involvement in drug trafficking activities across Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
According to the statement, Ilomuanya was first arrested in February 2003 in the United Kingdom and convicted for drug trafficking.
He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment but was released after serving two years following a successful appeal.
Babafemi added that the suspect was again arrested in the UK in July 2011 over drug-related offences.
He said, “He was granted administrative bail but jumped jurisdiction and fled to Nigeria.
“Typical of a recidivist, Ilomuanya was in November 2018 arrested in Nigeria by NDLEA operatives following the discovery of two clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in his Obinugwu, Orlu Local Government Area country home in Imo State and at his No. 3 Barrister Declan Uzoma Close, Lagos residence where officers recovered 77.960 kilograms of methamphetamine and extensive production equipment.
“He was subsequently charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos, after which he jumped court bail and has been on the run since then.”
Reacting to the development, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the arrest as a major breakthrough in the agency’s ongoing war against drug trafficking networks.
Marwa said the operation demonstrated the agency’s resolve to track down criminal elements regardless of how long they evade the law.
He said, “This arrest serves as a stern warning to those who think they can hide behind borders to escape justice.
“Whether you jump bail in London or set up clandestine labs in your village, the long arm of the NDLEA will eventually catch up with those who choose to undermine the health, security, and future of our nation.
“We remain committed to our international collaborations to ensure that Nigeria is not used as a sanctuary for global drug lords.”
Marwa also commended officers of the Special Operations Unit for their professionalism and persistence in tracking down the suspect.
He added that the agency would continue to strengthen intelligence-driven operations and international cooperation to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating within and beyond Nigeria.
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