Osun: Protest as youth group accuses commissioner of exclusion in 2025 confab

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

Youths under the aegis of the Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Citizens (CCNC) on Tuesday stormed the Osun State Secretariat in Abere, accusing the Commissioner for Youth, Moshood Olagunju, of sidelining the real actors as delegates to the National Youth Confab 2025.

The protesters accused the commissioner of planting his preferred candidates in the delegation, including National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members currently serving in Osun State.

The protest, led by Oluomo Success, said it was unacceptable that those who championed the original agitation that birthed the confab would now be deliberately excluded from its benefits.

Success maintained that their struggle was never about fighting for relevance but about securing opportunities for Nigerian youths to present their ideas and innovations.

His words: “The Commissioner for Youth initially offered us one out of nine slots, which we accepted in the spirit of inclusivity. However, the commissioner then stipulated that the representative must be a female member of our organization. This raises questions about the commissioner’s agenda and interests. The commissioner is telling us that an NYSC corps member serving in Osun State, who is an indigene of the state, should be part of our representation.”

While demanding transparency and accountability from the commissioner, Success threatened a mass protest if the commissioner fails to listen to them.

“We, the CCNC, the apex body that led the August fearless protest comprising over 53 organizations—if the commissioner is not willing to give us our rights, we will continue to visit the ministry until our demands are met,” he said.

Addressing the protesters, Olagunju said, “What you are seeing is the directive given to us from the top—Federal, not in Osun. We are to include corps members. I used my initiative to choose from this organization. We have corps members who are indigenes of Osun State and serving in the state, which are under my ministry. I am the one who did it. All your grievances should be towards Abuja.”