A journey witnessed from the inside.

I have watched Wale Kuku for many years, and my story is not that of someone observing from a distance.

In 2015, I was a member of the Ijebu Youth group within the PDP. I witnessed firsthand the youth mobilisation around Wale Kuku and his role in organising young people.

I remember his mobilisation for the Goodluck Jonathan campaign in Abeokuta in 2015. From my recollection, more than 5,000 young people were mobilised to the stadium.

What stayed with me was not just the turnout, but the way he handled the people he mobilised. The money meant for the youths reached them, and, from what I witnessed, he made sure the people received what was due to them.

*That was Wale Kuku then.*

But what interests me even more is what he did afterwards.

*HE STARTED BUILDING*

In 2019, I joined the Ijebu Youth movement, which later evolved into *New Generation.*

I have remained a floor member of that movement, and I have not only watched the programmes from the outside — I have personally benefited from them.

At one point, through New Generation’s agricultural support, I received about ₦140,000 worth of poultry feed for my poultry business.

That experience gives me a different perspective when I talk about what Wale Kuku has been building.

This is not something I simply read about. I have benefited from it myself.

My own experience, however, was only one small part of a much larger story. As I became more involved with New Generation, I began to see the scale of the programmes through their public reports and records.

The numbers tell part of the story.

* 4,400+ JAMB registrations reportedly sponsored through his initiatives.

* 1,000+ young people trained in digital skills through TecHandwork.

* 520 market women benefited from Iyaniwura Business Grants

* Over 1000 creative industry personal benefited from grants and equipments under the Ipele Tokan Programs.

* 1,200+ farmers targeted in the first phase of Didako Idan from 2023 to 2025, covering 2,000 acres.

* Earlier agricultural programmes had supported 400+ cassava farmers.

* The AgroCity project in Ijebu-Igbo had passed 100 acres by 2023.

* BusinessFirst has incubated Agritech companies, including an earlier pilot covering 500 acres.

* 300+ teachers trained in digital tools, alongside school improvements and student programmes.

These are just few of the programs he has implemented and the work has not stopped with youths, elders and entrepreneurs.

There have been interventions for artisans, market women, widows, farmers, students and vulnerable families.

There have been scholarships.

Palliatives.

Street lighting.

Road interventions.

Health interventions.

And even the construction of a security cell for Amotekun.

*THE PART THAT INTERESTS ME MOST*

Wale Kuku has not simply been giving people things.

He has been trying to build economic systems around people.

* Teach the young person a digital skill.

* Help the farmer produce.

* Help the entrepreneur build.

* Connect businesses to markets.

* Bring technology into agriculture.

* Create incubation structures.

* Give artisans access to finance and training.

* Create spaces where businesses can work and grow.

That is why the NG Business Hub in Ijebu-Ode is significant.

It represents an attempt to create infrastructure around entrepreneurship — workspace, incubation, training, technology, consulting and business support — rather than simply tell young people to “go and start a business.”

*AND HE DID MUCH OF THIS WITHOUT GOVERNMENT OFFICE*.

This is perhaps the most important part of the story.

For years, Wale Kuku has been doing this without political office, without a government appointment and without government contracts. He is a total technocrat and entrepreneur.

He contested the Ogun East Senate seat in 2023 and he was 3rd.

But the programmes continued.

That, to me, is worth observing.

Because I have seen the journey from the inside — from the political mobilisation of 2015, to joining the Ijebu Youth movement in 2019, to becoming part of New Generation, and eventually becoming a beneficiary myself.

I have seen the transition from mobilising people to building people; from politics to enterprise; from ideas to programmes; and from programmes towards systems.

And that is why, when I talk about Wale Kuku, I don’t speak only from what I have heard.

I speak from what I have witnessed.

I speak from what I have experienced.

And I speak as someone who has personally benefited from the ecosystem he has helped build.

TOUCHING LIVES . CREATING WEALTH . BUILDING SYSTEMS . LEAVING SOMETHING BEHIND.

__By Fola Demuren, a PDP member and longtime member of the New Generation__