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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 lawmaker representing Akinyele/Lagelu Federal Constituency of Oyo State, Olafisoye Akinmoyede, has denied allegations of violence at the All Progressives Congress (APC) state secretariat, describing claims that he assaulted a party member as false and politically motivated.
An online platform, IMPARTNEWSNETWORK, had alleged that Akinmoyede assaulted one Gafar Oyebade during a meeting convened by the state chairman of the party, Alake Adeyemo, to resolve issues surrounding the executive list of the APC in Lagelu Local Government Area.
However, Akinmoyede, in a statement on Tuesday, said the meeting was peaceful and attended by key members of the state executive, including the chairman, deputy chairman, and secretary, who witnessed the proceedings.
He clarified that contrary to Oyebade’s claim of being the party secretary, the official list presented by the state leadership recognised him as the Public Relations Officer.
According to the lawmaker, following the clarification, the state executive directed the Lagelu Local Government chairman, Fatai Awoyoola, to proceed with the swearing-in of other party officials.
Akinmoyede also faulted attempts to link the incident with the 2019 killing of a former federal lawmaker, noting that a court of competent jurisdiction had already ruled on the matter.
He said, “In Suit No. I/70c/2019, delivered by Justice Mufutau Adegbola on January 23, 2020, all those accused were discharged and acquitted.”
The lawmaker expressed concern over what he described as a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, alleging that Oyebade, a public school teacher under the Oyo State Government, should not be involved in partisan politics.
He described the allegation as a “recycled script” aimed at tarnishing his image ahead of political activities, urging constituents to remain calm.
Akinmoyede also called on journalists to verify information before publication and urged security agencies to take action against individuals who file false reports.
“These tactics surface every election cycle. Those behind them should learn to accept the outcomes of political processes. They failed before and will fail again. Power comes from God,” he added.
The lawmaker representing Akinyele/Lagelu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Olafisoye Akinmoyede, has denied allegations of assault levelled against him by a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagelu Local Government Area, Mr. Gafar Oyebade.
Akinmoyede described the allegation as “false” and “a lie taken too far,” insisting that no physical altercation occurred.
The denial was contained in a statement issued on Monday by his Legislative Aide, Dr. Isiaq Akintunde.
Oyebade had alleged that he was hospitalised following a confrontation during a meeting held at the office of the state party chairman in Oke-Ado, Ibadan, convened to resolve a leadership dispute in the local government.
But the federal lawmaker maintained that the meeting was peaceful and attended by top party officials.
“The meeting was convened to clarify Mr. Oyebade’s position within the local executive, and it was attended by the State Party Chairman, his deputy, the secretary, the publicity secretary, and other key state executives, all of whom witnessed the peaceful proceedings,” the statement read.
He added that contrary to Oyebade’s claim of being the party secretary, the official list presented by the Lagelu Local Government Party Chairman, Hon. Fatai Awoyoola, identified him as the Public Relations Officer.
According to Akinmoyede, the state executive thereafter directed Awoyoola to proceed with the swearing-in of the remaining members of the local government executive.
The lawmaker accused Oyebade of fabricating the allegation to advance political interests.
“I wonder why Mr. Gafar Oyebade, a secondary school teacher, would claim he was assaulted in the presence of the State Executive. This is an attempt to justify money allegedly collected from an aspirant to tarnish my image,” he said.
Akinmoyede further claimed that Oyebade was seen walking freely after the meeting and was not hospitalised as alleged.
He also raised concerns over Oyebade’s involvement in partisan politics, noting that civil servants are restricted from active participation in political activities.
The lawmaker called on security agencies and the media to investigate the incident at the party’s Oke-Ado office to ascertain the veracity of the claims.
Efforts to reach Oyebade for comments were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
The lawmaker representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency and Chairman, House Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, Aderemi Oseni, has declared his intention to contest the Oyo South Senatorial seat in the 2027 general elections.
Oseni made his aspiration known during a high-level meeting with the Ibarapa APC Elders’ and Leaders’ Forum, comprising the G9 and the expanded G64 caucus, held at the party secretariat in Eruwa, Ibarapa East Local Government Area, over the weekend.
The G9 and G64 groups consist of influential stakeholders drawn from Ibarapa East, Ibarapa Central, and Ibarapa North local government areas.
In a statement issued on Monday by his media aide, Idowu Ayodele, and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the lawmaker expressed appreciation to the forum for their support and confidence in his leadership and vision.
He said his ambition to represent Oyo South Senatorial District was anchored on a determination to consolidate and expand his record of performance.
Oseni said, “This aspiration is not built on mere rhetoric, but on the continuity and expansion of a proven track record of quality representation and grassroots-oriented governance.”
While soliciting the support of party leaders, he described his ambition as a divine call to serve the people with renewed dedication.
According to him, “This is not a time for self-glory but a sacred responsibility to intensify efforts towards real development, bring more relief to our people and ensure inclusive governance.”
He pledged not to betray the trust reposed in him by party elders and faithful, stressing that his aspiration is rooted in progressive ideals and a genuine commitment to the development of the district.
Oseni also urged leaders in the zone to mobilise support towards delivering one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the forthcoming election.
Speaking at the meeting, a leader from Ibarapa East, Chief Michael Morawo, lauded the lawmaker for delivering democratic dividends and strengthening the party structure. He added that Oseni has demonstrated commendable leadership through his performance, noting that his impact in stabilising the party within the constituency is evident.
Similarly, a former council chairman in Ibarapa Central, Chief Theophilus Adenrele, commended the lawmaker for not betraying the trust reposed in him. Also, a chieftain from Ibarapa North, Chief Francis Babalola, described Oseni as a humble leader committed to progressive ideals, dismissing speculations about his possible defection if he does not secure the governorship ticket.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the forum, Chief Timothy Jolaoso, said the lawmaker enjoys widespread grassroots acceptance that cuts across political divides.
Jolaoso said, “All indicators consistently point to Oseni as a candidate with acceptance that transcends party lines. He is not only capable but a man of deep faith with proven empathy for the downtrodden.”
He added, “He possesses the goodwill, financial strength, and public trust required for leadership.”
The elder statesman further noted that Oseni’s performance in the House of Representatives, alongside his role as Chairman of the FERMA Committee, underscores his competence and commitment to development.
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