Being the Speech by His Excellency Seyi Makinde, FNSE, Executive Governor of Oyo State at the YEAP-SAfER Disbursement and Stakeholder Event on Monday, 23 March 2026
Back in 2021, when the first batch of YEAP trainees were sent to CSS Global Integrated Farms, Nasarawa, some of you here today started that journey with uncertainty. But today, you stand with opportunity in your hands.
Today is not just about disbursing funds. It is about reinforcing a system. We are demonstrating that sustainable development is not built on isolated interventions, but on deliberate, structured, and consistent action over time.
From the very beginning of this administration, we understood that economic prosperity does not happen by chance. It happens when three things are prioritised; education, entrepreneurship, and productivity.
That understanding informed what we called our Oyo State Roadmap for Accelerated Development 2019-2023. Under that roadmap, we focused on building capacity, strengthening institutions, and creating opportunities for our people to become active participants, not just observers, in the economy.
But we also knew that acceleration without sustainability is short-lived. That is why we evolved into a Roadmap for Sustainable Development 2023-2027, ensuring that every gain we make today can be sustained tomorrow.
The YEAP-SAfER initiative sits firmly within this vision.
Over the past few years, we have invested in training. We have provided inputs, built knowledge, and exposed our young people to modern agribusiness practices. What we are doing today, with this disbursement, is taking the next logical step – enabling productivity at scale.
Because training without access to resources limits potential. And resources without structure leads to waste. What we are building here is a system that connects knowledge, opportunity, and execution.
Let me say this clearly to our young beneficiaries: this is not just support, it is responsibility. You are aware that this loan is without collateral, but how you use it will determine future productivity.
You have been given access to training, exposure, and now financial backing. What you do with this opportunity will not only determine your own future, it will shape the future of agribusiness in Oyo State. We expect discipline, we expect accountability, and we expect results.
To our partners, particularly First City Monument Bank, working through the Mastercard Foundation, I want to express our sincere appreciation. The State had provided a seed capital of five hundred million naira and you provided one billion naira. Your additional support strengthens this initiative and demonstrates what is possible when public and private sector actors align around a shared vision.
We encourage more organisations to take advantage of the YEAP-SAfER platform. The opportunity to impact lives at scale is here, and it is structured in a way that ensures measurable outcomes.
As a State, we have come a long way.
Oyo State is no longer where it used to be. We have moved out of the trenches and positioned ourselves among the top-performing states across key economic indices in Nigeria. Today, Oyo State is increasingly recognised as a destination for investment, a place where development is not just discussed, but executed.
However, progress is only meaningful if it can be sustained.
As we approach the end of this administration, one of the things I am particularly committed to is ensuring continuity. Not continuity of individuals, but continuity of systems.
One of the greatest challenges in governance is that knowledge is often lost between administrations. Projects are started, but not documented. Systems are built, but not codified. As a result, progress is interrupted.
We must break that cycle.
That is why I have charged all commissioners and heads of agencies to ensure that their work is properly documented to help the incoming administration.
In many ways, this is about leaving behind something that many of us did not have the benefit of receiving – a structured path for continued development.
Because governance is not about one administration. It is about building a system that outlives any single tenure.
To the young people here today, you are not just beneficiaries of a programme. You are participants in a system that is designed to outlast this moment.
Make the most of it.
To our partners, thank you for believing in this vision.
And to the people of Oyo State, we remain committed to building a future that is not only prosperous, but sustainable.
Thank you, and God bless you.