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Governor Ademola Adeleke has had more than two months, four copies of a manifesto, a formal letter, and multiple direct meetings with his own aides to make a simple, public commitment to the women and youth of Osun State. He has not done it. Meanwhile, both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidates vying to lead Osun in 2027 have already signed on.
The Osun Women and Youth Manifesto, titled The Osun We Deserve, is not a mystery document. It was produced by AdvoKC Foundation from a structured data collection exercise carried out across all 30 Local Government Areas of Osun State, reaching 1,972 respondents (65% women, mostly between 18 and 35) through surveys and open verbal and written submissions. What emerged was a ranked, evidence-backed list of citizen priorities: road infrastructure, stable electricity, clean water, youth employment, drainage and flood resilience, waste management, women- and youth-specific development gaps, and functional healthcare. From these, the manifesto sets out a dated four-year governance contract, running from the first 100 days of the next administration through 2030.
It was put together so that leadership does not have to guess what its citizens want, it only has to say yes or no. Governor Adeleke has said neither. He has simply gone quiet.
In June 2026, a formal letter was sent to Governor Adeleke's office, accompanied by two copies of the Women and Youth Manifesto, requesting his commitment. In the following weeks, advocates held repeated meetings with members of the Governor's camp to press for a response. Each time, the answer was the same: the Governor is too busy. Two additional copies of the manifesto were delivered to the Governor's office, a fourth and fifth attempt to secure what should be a straightforward yes.
At every stage, the answer has not been "no." It has been silence, dressed up as a scheduling problem. That is the plain contrast Osun voters are left with: candidates who are not yet in office have found time to commit to the demands of women and youth. The sitting Governor, with the full machinery of state government behind him, has not.
No governor of a state as large as Osun has an empty diary. Every governor is busy. The question a manifesto like this puts to power is never "do you have time," but "what do you have time for." Two letters, four copies of a document, and repeated meetings with his own camp represent, by any reasonable measure, more than enough opportunity to answer the question.
Governor Adeleke's continued silence is itself an answer, just not the one the women and youth of Osun State were hoping for.
The demand has not changed since June: commit publicly to the Women and Youth Manifesto, in writing, the same way the APC and ADC candidates already have. Osun's women and youth are not asking for a favour. They are asking their Governor to say, clearly, whether their priorities are his.
Until he does, "too busy" will remain the only answer Osun has received.
