Hon. Ayodele Olawande

Hon. Ayodele Olawande is a Construction Engineer, Community Development Practitioner, Youth Advocate and Politician. He attended Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti where he studied Civil Engineering and Federal University of Technology, Akure to study Industrial Design, also study International Journalism at University of Maduguri.  He is currently studying at Rome Business School.

At 28, he commenced his career as an educator, organizing classes and instilling knowledge and values in the young people of his community. His passion grew to embrace a dynamic journey into the youth development sector, where he spearheaded efforts to harness the immense potentials of young adults, delivering results that garnered him recognition and led to his active involvement in grassroot politics, community organizing and citizen mobilization.

Career wise, Hon. Olawande has covered an impressive milestone, recording breakthroughs that surpass his 35-year-old. He worked variously as a Site Administrator/Engineer at Renz Nigeria Limited; Personal Assistant to the Special Adviser on Innovation to former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Director of Project Monitoring at National Examination Council (NECO); Strategic Communications Officer at Emerging Community Africa; Operation Manager at The Way Project Nigeria Limited; Director of Business at TEHUB; Director of Operation at LAHHOMES (2020); and as a Field Officer in the Nigerian Social Investment Office (NSIO).

As a politician, he started out as a member of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), serving as the ward 9 Akure South Auditor of the party from 2009 to 2011. He was a founding member of the Ondo Youth for Aketi in 2012; and founder of the Action Youth Movement (AYM) between 2015 and 2019. He also served as the South West Co-Coordinator of the Asiwaju Grassroot Foundation (AGF), and the Ondo State Coordinator of the All Progressives Youth Forum (APYF). As member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Olawande has undertook several assignments for the party, some of which include: ICT Director of the party in Ondo State from 2015 to 2018; Member, APC Convention Planning Committee (2018); Member, APC Committee for Kogi State Governorship Election; Member, State Congress Committee for Kogi State (2018); Member, APC Ward Congress Appeal Committee for Edo State (2021); Member, Local Government Congress Appeal Committee for Edo State (2021). Hon. Olawande served as Deputy Director for Youth Mobilization in the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 Elections. He also served as the APC Youth Leader in Ondo State till October 2023 when he was appointed Minister of State for Youth Development by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.